Oklahoma Unemployment Office

OG&E, OEC won't cut service

NORMAN — OG&E and Oklahoma Electric Cooperative won’t be cutting off service due to nonpayment any time soon as temperatures threaten to stay above 100 degrees for the foreseeable future.

OG&E, which has roughly 35,000 residential and commercial customers in Norman, announced Tuesday that it will not disconnect service to residences due to nonpayment during August, although the reprieve doesn’t affect commercial customers.

The state’s largest power company also said it will work with those having a hard time paying their bills and that payment plans are available.

“Because it’s been so hot — over 100 degrees almost every day for the past month — we have not been disconnecting service,” OG&E spokesman Brian Alford said. “And in the interest of public health and safety, we will not resume disconnects during August.”

Alford said those who do not complete the contract-for-service process within three business days will not be exempt from disconnection, adding that “all charges will continue to accumulate on customer bills, which will be much higher as a result of greater air conditioner use.”

“We recognize that some of our customers will need more time to pay their electric bill, and we want to be as flexible as we can during the next few months,” Alford said. “We will offer residential customers who have fallen behind on their bill up to six months to catch up.”

OEC spokeswoman Patti Rogers said Tuesday that her company hasn’t cut service to post-paid accounts in the past three weeks due to the hot weather. She said OEC, which boasts some 10,000 customers in Norman, doesn’t anticipate any disconnections due to nonpayment this week or next, either.

“Additionally, we have postponed disconnecting prepaid accounts with minimal balances,” Rogers said.

OEC is monitoring the weather, taking things a week at a time as far as a disconnection policy goes, she said.

“We certainly don’t want people without electricity and encourage anyone who falls behind on his or her bill to call us and work out a payment arrangement before it reaches cut-off status,” Rogers said.

Little help available

As temperatures continue to rise, electric bills are showing an upward trend, as well.

Factor in a bad economy, relatively high unemployment and the rising cost of food and gas, and paying that $250 OG&E bill can become a difficult task.

How to File Oklahoma Unemployment - Unemployment Management

Unemployment compensation will not fully replace the income you would have received from being actively employed, however it will ease the financial burden with a temporary source of income while you are looking for other employment.

Qualify for unemployment:

To qualify for unemployment compensation you must have become unemployed through no fault of your own. What does that mean? If there is sufficient reason that you should no longer be employed by the company than you will not receive unemployment compensation. Some common reasons for unemployment being denied include:

• were discharged or fired for misconduct (misconduct is an act which is either willful or is an intentional disregard of the employer’s interest) • Jobs that are between terms (when an employee knows there will be times of no income because of work schedules EX: Teachers or Sports professionals)

 

How to file:

File for unemployment as soon as you become unemployed! You should also file for unemployment if you are working less than full time and earning income that is less than your benefit amount. You can either file for benefits over the phone (800-555-1554) Monday thru Friday 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM (excluding state holidays) or over the internet (https://unemployment.state.ok.us/instructions.asp?x=n). You will need your social security number along with the name, address, and dates for your last employer.

 

Approval or Denial of benefits:

Once you have submitted a request for Oklahoma unemployment benefits your claim will have to be approved or denied.

Monetary approved – If during your base period you have earned at least 00 in covered wages and your total base period wages are at least 1 ½ times your high quarter wages.

*** Simply put – you must have earned over 00.00 during the first 12 months of the last five quarters (five groups of three months), and the total earned during that 12 month period must be at least 1 ½ times the amount you earned in your highest quarter.

Once the monetary approval is completed it will move on to termination eligibility approval. This is typically done during the first week after you file for unemployment benefits. This first week is known as the waiting week and no benefits will be paid for this week.

Once you have filed a request for Oklahoma unemployment benefits your previous employer will be notified. A letter informing them of the request for unemployment will be mailed within 15 days. You previous employer will be ask to confirm details of your separation and will be given an opportunity to dispute your request for unemployment. If they choose to dispute your unemployment benefit claim they will have to return the information with detailed comments regarding the reason they are disputing the benefits. This must be postmarked within 10 days of the original notice being mailed to them.

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