(Left to right) OG&E community affairs manager Emily Tate, Citizen Potawatomi Nation electrical director Justin Whitecotton, CPN housing director Scott George, CPN Vice Chairman Linda Capps, OG&E account executive Kylee Mendenhall, OG&E program manager Toney Cooper and an OG&E contractor take a break from weatherization activity at the tribe’s Father Joe Murphy Elder Housing community.)
OG&E partnered with the Citizen Potawatomi Nation (CPN) to weatherize 35 homes in the tribe’s Father Joe Murphy Elder Housing community in Shawnee. OG&E volunteers completed basic work Wednesday, Nov. 8, including weatherstripping and caulking, while OG&E contractors made additional improvements to the homes to increase energy efficiency at no additional cost to the residents.
“We wanted to ensure our elders are both comfortable and reduce their electric bills during the hot summer and cold winter months in Oklahoma,” said Citizen Potawatomi Nation Vice Chairman Linda Capps. “We were thrilled to learn that OG&E could weatherize all the homes in the Father Joe Murphy housing community at once. We are grateful for their continued partnership and critical investment in our community.”
“Our electric bills have been pretty high during the summer, and we had no idea OG&E had a program like this,” said Ruthann Smith, Father Joe Murphy resident. “I know there are some spaces around my doors and windows that need to be fixed because you can see daylight, which means cold air is coming in. It’s good to know that OG&E cares. It means a lot that they are a part of our community and they are really helping us out.”
Weatherization – a program available to any qualifying OG&E customer – helps make homes more comfortable during extreme temperatures and can help customers lower their electric bills. The program comes at no additional cost to qualified customers and includes a wide range of home improvements worth thousands of dollars. Improvements can include adding attic insulation, sealing air leakage around windows and doors, duct sealing and installing energy-saving light bulbs.
(An OG&E contractor seals an air vent in Ruthann Smith’s home in the Citizen Potawatomi Nation’s Father Joe Murphy Elder Housing community in Shawnee.)
“Changes in temperature can significantly affect your home, and OG&E’s weatherization program helps customers who need it most combat the impact of extreme temperatures during the summer and winter,” said Toney Cooper, lead program manager at OG&E. “Our partnership with Citizen Potawatomi Nation and Father Joe Murphy Elder Housing shows how simple improvements can make a home more comfortable and monthly bills more manageable. We are proud to help energize the lives of our tribal customers through this key partnership.”
OG&E has improved more than 50,000 customer homes through weatherization since 2009. In Oklahoma, the program is offered at no additional cost to all residential customers who own or lease a single-family, duplex, or mobile home and have a household income of less than $60,000 a year. In Arkansas, the program is offered at no additional cost to all residential customers whose homes are more than 10 years old.
Source: OGE press release