Chris Oberle, senior vice president of Marketing Strategies International (MSI), presents MSI’s Customer Champion award to PSO president Stuart Solomon on Monday, Dec. 15. Other employees in photo are, from left, Jeff Brown, Tony Moore, Aiden Smith, Micah Burdge, Natalie McCord, Steve Baker, Dennis Hagy, John Harper, Tiffini Kelley, Debbie Arwood, Scott Ritz, Shemeka Rodgers, Tye Hardy, and Billye Beach.
Since 1913, Public Service Company of Oklahoma has been serving Oklahomans not simply by providing electricity to their homes but by offering value, service and commitment in every way.
Michael Gordon, PSO community affairs manager for Northeast Oklahoma, says the company sees value as an overarching importance, encompassing prices, customer service, reliability, community involvement, outage restoration and more. And the facts confirm PSO ranks superior in all areas.
With electricity prices 30 percent below the national average and service ranked among the most reliable in the country, standard industry measures show PSO customers experience fewer and shorter power outages than most other utility companies statewide and nationally.
Taking the savings even further in unique ways, PSO is a proponent of alternative energy and a leader in Oklahoma for wind energy. Currently providing 690 megawatts of wind energy under long-term contracts, the total will increase to 1,137 megawatts by 2016, equating to 20 percent of PSO’s energy. “The new wind contracts will save customers $53 million in the first year, with annual savings topping $100 million in their later years,” Gordon says.
Additionally, installation of new environmental equipment—in keeping with the Oklahoma plan PSO developed with state leaders for compliance with new federal rules governing power plant emissions —will create lower initial cost to customers and increase the use of Oklahoma-produced natural gas to generate electricity.
Gordon says new technology also offers PSO an avenue to add value to customer service. “An agreement reached at the Oklahoma Corporation Commission (OCC) will now allow PSO to offer Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) to all customers, providing new tools to better manage energy bills. PSO plans to replace more than 520,000 existing electric meters with new AMI meters by the end of 2016,” he says.
Chosen as the pilot city by PSO for Advanced Metering Infrastructure in 2010, Owasso citizens were the first customers to have near-real time data of their electric usage. As part of the pilot project, Owasso customers were also offered the use of a FREE customer web portal and the ability to participate in opt-in tariff-based consumer programs (coupled with FREE in-home devices such as Home Energy Management devices and Programmable Communicating Thermostats) to better monitor their electric usage. “This gave Owasso citizens the data they needed to have greater control over their monthly electric costs by potentially shifting usage from higher-priced periods to lower-priced periods during the peak season” Gordon says.
“The new AMI rate plans and technology will help customers achieve energy savings, improve quality of electric service via electronic meter reading, remote connections and disconnections, and virtual elimination of estimated meter readings.”
Taking value one step further, PSO’s PowerFoward program offers a series of incentives to customers, making investments in energy efficiency. Local restaurants, hotels, retailers and manufacturers can find opportunities for savings with HVAC replacement, lighting retrofits, new construction and more. Residential customers can also find value in the program with rebates on specific home projects. Details and incentive information can be found at www.powerforwardwithpso.com.
Following their commitment to advancing quality service, technology and pricing, PSO is committed to community involvement. PSO’s 1,600 employees volunteer across the state for various organizations, improving quality of life, providing financial support to hundreds of organizations and contributing to community well-being and vitality in areas of education, economic development, environmental stewardship, human needs and the arts. “Here in Owasso, we work with Owasso Public Schools, the Owasso Education Foundation and the Community Resource Center,” Gordon says.
PSO was even named a Customer Service Champion by Market Strategies International (MSI) for superior performance in MSI/Cogent Reports’ 2014 Utility Trusted Brand & Customer Engagement study. PSO ranked 6th among the U.S. electric utility providers surveyed.
Working closely with state and local leaders, PSO provides excellent customer service, meets industry challenges, strengthens existing businesses, and retains and attracts jobs, not only for Oklahoma, but for Owasso as well, Gordon says.
“And Owasso voters will have the opportunity to vote to continue the electric service relationship with PSO on March 3 with the franchise election vote.”
For more information on PSO and its commitment to optimum value, visit www.psoklahoma.com , like PSO on Facebook (www.facebook.com/PSOklahoma) or follow on Twitter @PSOklahoma.
