Delaney to OGE shareholders: It was an award-winning year

OKLAHOMA CITY, May 17, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- OGE Energy Corp. (NYSE: OGE) Chairman and CEO Pete Delaney today told shareholders gathered for the company's annual meeting that 2011 would be remembered not only for the extremes in weather, but also for OGE's numerous awards and accomplishments.

While the region saw blizzards, tornados, record-breaking heat and drought, which challenged OGE's employees and equipment, the company met record demand for electricity and gathered more natural gas than ever before. The year was capped off in December when OG&E was named the best utility in North America.

"I'm proud of this company and its employees, who went above and beyond in a challenging year," Delaney said. "Their efforts are reflected in the Utility of the Year recognition, J.D. Power and Associates® awards for residential and commercial customer satisfaction, and a best-in-class safety honor for Enogex, to name just a few of the year's successes."

Delaney added that OGE Energy had another strong year for financial performance, thanks to key infrastructure investments and operational excellence. "We invested a record $1.5 billion in our businesses in 2011, representing infrastructure critical to meeting our customers' needs," he said.

At OG&E, the company's regulated electric utility, major investments include a nearly 600-mile expansion of the electric transmission system, smart technology with nearly 700,000 new meters installed so far, and wind power, which now accounts for more than 10 percent of total generating capacity.

For Enogex, the midstream natural gas business, major investments include new natural gas processing plants that will increase processing capacity by 36 percent in 2013. "We expect at least another 6 to 10 percent increase in gathering volumes and at least 15 percent increase in processing volumes this year due to continued activity in the Granite Wash and Woodford Shale areas," Delaney said. "This is growth on top of the all-time-high gathering and processable volumes achieved in 2011."

In voting announced at the annual meeting, OGE Energy shareholders approved, on an advisory basis, the compensation paid to named executive officers, ratified the appointment of Ernst & Young LLP as the company's principal independent accountants for 2012, and elected seven members of the company's board of directors to one-year terms:

• Wayne H. Brunetti, retired chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Xcel Energy Inc., was re-elected. He has been a director of OGE Energy and OG&E since August 2008.
• John D. Groendyke, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Groendyke Transport Inc., was re-elected. He has been a director of OGE Energy and OG&E since January 2003.
• Kirk Humphreys, chairman and manager of The Humphreys Company LLC, was re-elected. He has been a director of OGE Energy and of OG&E since November 2007.
• Robert Kelley, president of Kellco Investments Inc., was re-elected. He has been a director of OGE Energy and OG&E since December 1996.
• Robert O. Lorenz, retired partner of the Arthur Andersen accounting firm, was re-elected. He has been a director of OGE Energy and OG&E since July 2005.
• Judy R. McReynolds, president and chief executive officer of Arkansas Best Corporation, was re-elected. She has been a director of OGE Energy and of OG&E since July 2011.
• Leroy C. Richie, counsel to the law firm Lewis & Munday, P.C., was re-elected.  He has been a director of OGE Energy and of OG&E since November 2007.

OGE Energy shareholders also considered a shareholder proposal requesting that the Board of Directors take the steps necessary so that each shareholder voting requirement in the company's charter and bylaws that calls for a greater than simple majority vote be changed to require a majority of the votes cast for and against the proposal, or a simple majority in compliance with applicable laws. The proposal received a majority of the votes cast, but less than a majority of the outstanding shares.

Also today, the OGE Energy Corp. Board of Directors declared a regular quarterly dividend of $0.3925 per common share of stock, to be paid July 30, 2012 to shareholders of record on July 10, 2012. The dividend was unchanged from the previous quarter.

OGE Energy (NYSE: OGE) is the parent company of OG&E, which serves more than 792,000 customers in a service territory spanning 30,000 square miles in Oklahoma and western Arkansas, and of OGE Enogex Holdings LLC, a midstream natural gas pipeline business with principal operations in Oklahoma.

Some of the matters discussed in this presentation 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 from those expressed in the forward-looking statements.  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, access to existing lines of credit, access to the commercial paper markets, actions of rating agencies and their impact on capital expenditures; the ability of the Company and its subsidiaries to access the capital markets and 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 as well as the processing contract mix between percent-of-liquids, keep-whole and fixed-fee; business conditions in the energy and natural gas midstream industries; 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 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 accounting principles for certain types of rate-regulated activities; whether OG&E can successfully implement its smart grid program to install meters for its customers and integrate the smart grid meters with its customer billing and other computer information systems; advances in technology; 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 including those listed in Risk Factors and Exhibit 99.01 to the Company's Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2011.

SOURCE OGE Energy Corp.