Oklahoma utilities send crews to help Hurricane Sandy power restoration

Crews from a couple of Oklahoma electric utilities are headed east to help with power restoration in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.

Oklahoma Gas and Electric Co. sent a 60-person storm team to help Maryland’s Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. earlier this morning, said OG&E spokesman Brian Alford. OG&E also mobilized 69 contract lineman and 90 tree trimmers.

Public Service Co., a unit of Ohio-based American Electric Power, sent about 70 employees and contractors from Tulsa, McAlester and Lawton over the weekend to Wytheville, Va. They are expected to arrive this afternoon or evening and receive their assignments there, said Stan Whiteford, PSO’s spokesman.

Meanwhile, energy monitoring firm Genscape has opened up its proprietary system to the public during the storm for updates on electricity, power plants and refinery outages.

While Sandy has yet to come ashore, the effects of the storm are already being felt along the Mid-Atlantic and into New England. One estimate from engineers at Johns Hopkins University said up to 10 million people could lose power from the storm.

Thank you for joining our conversation on Power Play. We encourage your discussion but ask that you stay within the bounds of our commenting and posting policy.