OKLAHOMA CITY, May 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- OGE Energy Corp. enjoyed a record-setting year in 2006, the company's Chairman and CEO Steven E. Moore told shareowners gathered today for their annual meeting.
OGE Energy shareowners also heard the company's plans for future growth. Citing the company's need to replace aging infrastructure, expand its capacity to meet the growing energy needs of the region yet fulfill its commitment to environmental stewardship and cost effective operations, President and Chief Operating Officer Peter B. Delaney outlined plans for investing nearly $4 billion in a variety of infrastructure projects over the next six years.
"While reliability is a core mission, our customers expect us to watch our costs and plan for the unexpected," Delaney said, "That requires disciplined investment and maintaining a balance to sustain us in a rapidly changing environment."
OG&E, the company's regulated electric utility, is preparing for more than $3 billion in construction projects to accommodate growth and improve the reliability and environmental performance of the electric system. Enogex, the company's midstream natural gas pipeline, has another $500 million of growth and expansion projects on the drawing board.
"We understand our customers depend on us for reliable, reasonably priced electric and natural gas pipeline services, and that our shareowners rely on us for consistent returns," Delaney said. "In everything we do, we will bring our 105-year tradition of dedication to the many people who are counting on us."
In voting announced at the annual meeting, OGE Energy shareowners ratified the appointment of Ernst & Young LLP as the company's principal independent accountants for 2007, and elected four members of the company's board of directors to three-year terms:
-- Luke R. Corbett, former chairman and CEO of Kerr-McGee Corp., was re-elected. He has been a director of OGE Energy and of OG&E since 1996. -- Peter B. Delaney, President and Chief Operating Officer of OGE Energy Corp. and OG&E, was elected. He has been a director of OGE Energy and of OG&E since January 2007. -- Robert Kelley, president of Kellco Investments Inc. and former chairman of Noble Affiliates Inc., was re-elected. He has been a director of OGE Energy and of OG&E since 1996. -- J.D. Williams, founder and former member of Williams & Jensen, P.C., was re-elected. He has been a director of OGE Energy and of OG&E since 2001.
Also today, the OGE Energy Corp. Board of Directors declared a regular quarterly dividend of $0.34 per common share of stock, to be paid July 30, 2007 to shareowners of record on July 10, 2007. The dividend was unchanged from the previous quarter.
CLASS OF STOCK: OGE common QUARTERLY DIVIDEND PER SHARE: $0.34 RECORD DATE: 07/10/07 PAYMENT DATE: 07/30/07
OGE Energy is the parent company of Oklahoma Gas and Electric Company (OG&E), which serves more than 758,000 customers in a service territory spanning 30,000 square miles in Oklahoma and western Arkansas, and of Enogex Inc., a natural gas pipeline business with principal operations in Oklahoma.
Some of the matters discussed on this news release may contain forward-looking statements that are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Such forward-looking statements are intended to be identified in this document by the words "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect", "intend", "objective", "plan", "possible", "potential", "project" and similar expressions. Actual results may vary materially. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to general economic conditions, including the availability of credit, actions of rating agencies and their impact on capital expenditures; OGE Energy Corp.'s (collectively, with its subsidiaries, the "Company") ability and the ability of its subsidiaries to obtain financing on favorable terms; prices and availability of electricity, coal, natural gas and natural gas liquids, each on a stand-alone basis and in relation to each other; business conditions in the energy industry; competitive factors including the extent and timing of the entry of additional competition in the markets served by the Company; unusual weather; availability and prices of raw materials for current and future construction projects; federal or state legislation and regulatory decisions (including the approval of future regulatory filings with the Oklahoma Corporation Commission ("OCC") or the Arkansas Public Service Commission ("APSC") related to its proposed construction of a new power plant and the outcome of Oklahoma Gas and Electric Company's ("OG&E") current Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ("FERC") audit) and initiatives that affect cost and investment recovery, have an impact on rate structures or affect the speed and degree to which competition enters the Company's markets; environmental laws and regulations that may impact the Company's operations; changes in accounting standards, rules or guidelines; the discontinuance of regulated accounting principles under Financial Accounting Standards Board Statement of Financial Accounting Standard ("SFAS") No. 71, "Accounting for the Effects of Certain Types of Regulation"; creditworthiness of suppliers, customers and other contractual parties; the higher degree of risk associated with the Company's nonregulated business compared with the Company's regulated utility business; and other risk factors listed in the reports filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
OGE Energy Corp.
