Extremely cold temperatures are expected across Oklahoma later this week. Two of the state's top utility companies say they’re ready.
Temperatures are forecast to drop into the single digits with wind chills well below zero by later this week.
Oklahoma Gas and Electric and Oklahoma Natural Gas say they are prepared for this week’s arctic blast. A spokesperson for OG&E says the company has made several improvements to the power grid since the winter storm of February 2021 that left thousands in the dark. The utility company touted smart grid technology that has the ability to reroute power automatically to minimize outages.
ONG said in a statement they’ve been working to secure natural gas supply well ahead of the extremely cold temperatures. The utility company said that about half of their supply is stored before the winter season.
Several small, rural businesses in Oklahoma will receive funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for various renewable energy projects.
Over $500,000 dollars in grants from the USDA’s Rural Energy for America Program will help six rural Oklahoma businesses and agriculture producers to develop renewable energy systems and lower their energy costs.
Woodshed of Buffalo Ranch is a locally owned convenience store and truck stop in Afton and is the largest recipient with a grant of nearly $143,000.
The business will use the money to buy and install a solar array that will supply enough energy to power 43 homes.
The USDA also announced it will make $300 million in grants available under the rural energy program for small rural businesses and producers to apply for by March 31 of next year.
Cherokee Nation Secretary of State Tina Glory-Jordan has been named to a new position within the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Secretary Glory-Jordan has a lengthy resume. She’s worked with every Chief of the Cherokee Nation since the 1980s and was appointed by late Principal Chief Wilma Mankiller as the first district court judge of the tribal nation.
Now she can add working with the White House to her list of accomplishments.
Glory-Jordan will be one of 15 members of the Tribal Intergovernmental Advisory Committee at HUD. Her job: help the committee strengthen nation-to-nation relationships between HUD and tribal communities, coordinate policy across HUD programs and advise on housing priorities in Indian Country.
The committee comes out of the White House's goal to strengthen relationships between federal agencies and tribal communities.
The Cherokee Nation is using COVID-19 relief funds to build a new water tower in the town of Roland.
Roland sits on Cherokee Nation land near the Arkansas border. The town’s existing water tower has weathered more than two decades of storms and floods.
The new tower will increase Roland’s water supply to meet growing demands. It will also allow the town to drain and repair its older tower without disrupting residents’ access to water.
The Cherokee Nation provided five hundred thousand dollars for the project as part of the tribe’s Respond, Recover and Rebuild Plan. Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. says the Cherokee Nation is always looking for projects like this one that will have generational benefits for tribe members and their local communities.
Town Manager Monty Lennington says this isn’t the first time the Cherokee Nation has provided assistance with infrastructure projects in Roland, which is home to one of the tribe’s ten casinos.
If you're flying for the holidays, Will Rogers World Airport has put in a new identity verification system that aims to speed up the security checkpoint process.
The new identity verification system is called CLEAR. Instead of providing an ID, the system verifies the traveler's identity through fingerprints or their eyes.
The service is available to travelers for a monthly fee. There are discounts if the traveler is a member of an airline or is a veteran.
The CLEAR verification system is in 48 locations across the country.
_________________
For additional news throughout the day visit our website, KGOU.org and follow us on social media.
We also invite you to subscribe to the KGOU PM NewsBrief with host Dani Ingram.