OGE Energy Corp. plans to hold its annual meeting of shareholders in mid-May and despite an improvement in COVID-19 cases nationally, it will be a virtual gathering and not an in-person meeting.
In a preliminary proxy statement filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company said the meeting will be held at 10 a.m. CDT on Thursday, May 19. The meeting will be held via live webcast and shareholders will be able to log in to the virtual meeting.
“The Board of Directors determined to hold a virtual annual meeting in light of continuing concerns related to coronavirus (COVID-19). We believe a remote or virtual meeting will facilitate shareholder attendance, voting and participation while safeguarding the health and well-being of our shareholders, Board and management,” stated the filing with the SEC.
Shareholders will be asked to elect 9 directors, ratify the appointment of Ernst & Young LLP as the company’s principal independent accountants for 2022, and hold an advisory vote to approve named executive officer compensation.
The 9 directors proposed for election are: Frank A. Bozich, Peter D. Clarke, David L. Hauser, Luther C. Kissam, Judy R. McReynolds, David E. Rainbolt, J. Michael Sanner, Sheila G. Talton and Sean Trauschke.
Director Luke Corbett will retire at the end of the meeting.
The board also is urging shareholders to approve an amendment to eliminate supermajority voting provisions and against a shareholder proposal to allow supermajority voting. The same shareholder who wants to eliminate the 80% supermajority requirement also proposed the issue at shareholder meetings in 2012, 2015, 2019 and 2021. The proposal would reduce the requirement from 80% to 67%, something the board opposes.
The proxy filing with the SEC also revealed that the Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors delayed its compensation recommendations in February 2021 because of Winter Storm Uri, the storm that left the utility with hundreds of millions in additional costs.
“Due to the uncertainty surrounding the impact of the February 2021 Winter Storm Uri, the Compensation Committee chose at its February 2021 meeting to postpone establishing the 2021 performance goals for the annual incentive awards until management could better understand the overall effects of the 2021 February Winter Storm Uri,” stated the SEC filing.
A month later, the committee set the 2021 company performance goals for the annual incentive awards.
Now OG&E, with the assistance of the Oklahoma Development Finance Authority, is seeking approval from the Oklahoma Supreme Court, of more than $800 million in ratepayer-backed bonds to pay for the company’s storm costs.