TULSA, Okla. – April 8, 2010—Work is under way to significantly increase the number of natural gas meters in the Tulsa area that are equipped with automated meter reading (AMR) devices. Oklahoma Natural Gas Company, a division of ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE: OKE), plans to install an additional 120,000 of the devices here before the end of this year.
Oklahoma Natural Gas Company East Region Vice President Scott Shepherd said the project will mean improved service for customers, as well as greater efficiency for the company. "When we install an AMR-equipped meter, it will no longer be necessary for our meter readers to access customers' property," Shepherd said. "That also means a reduced need to estimate bills in those situations where we couldn't get access to the meter," he said.
The automated technology uses a small radio transmitter attached to the gas meter that, when activated, sends the current reading to a nearby technician who is equipped with a receiver that records the data and ultimately transfers it to the company's accounting system. The technician may obtain the reading from a company vehicle or from the street.
The current AMR project targets customers dispersed throughout the Tulsa metropolitan area. Oklahoma Natural Gas Company employees will install the AMR devices on existing meters and, where necessary, replace older meters with new AMR-equipped meters. Customers who live in the areas where this work is taking place will be notified by letter. Additional communication will be directed to customers whose meters will have to be replaced. Employees performing the work will be wearing uniforms, driving marked vehicles and displaying photo identification badges that clearly identify them as working on behalf of Oklahoma Natural Gas.
Similar work is also under way in the Oklahoma City area. Company officials said that when the $31 million project is finished, approximately 400,000 of Oklahoma Natural Gas Company's 820,000 customers will have meters capable of being read remotely.
Oklahoma Natural Gas provides natural gas service to more than 800 thousand customers in the state of Oklahoma. It is a division of ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE: OKE), a diversified energy company. ONEOK is the general partner and owns 42.8 percent of ONEOK Partners, L.P. (NYSE: OKS), one of the largest publicly traded limited partnerships, which is a leader in the gathering, processing, storage and transportation of natural gas in the U.S. and owns one of the nation's premier natural gas liquids (NGL) systems, connecting much of the natural gas and NGL supply in the Mid-Continent with key market centers. ONEOK is among the largest natural gas distributors in the United States, serving more than 2 million customers in Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas. Its energy services operation focuses primarily on marketing natural gas and related services throughout the U.S. ONEOK is a Fortune 500 company.
For more information, visit the Web sites at www.oklahomanaturalgas.com or www.oneok.com.
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