‘They simply don’t communicate’: Choctaw woman unable to use solar panels, hits roadblock with OG&E - KFOR Oklahoma City

Choctaw woman unable to use solar panels, hits roadblock with OG&E

CHOCTAW, Okla. ( KFOR) – Mary Delaney had solar panels drilled into her roof two months ago, but she said she hasn’t been able to run her home off of the sun’s energy in that time because of a lack of communication and an unknown delay in a meter installation.

“Look at our sky today. We have so much sunlight in in Oklahoma. We ought to be using it,” Delaney explained as to why she chose the solar panel route over traditional electricity.

Delaney told KFOR she had no issues with the installation as her solar panels were up within a few hours of the project starting.

“It’s all been set up. As you can tell, it’s all installed. This little green sticker tells you that the OG&E man has been out and inspected. The installation has been approved. It was improved a month ago,” said Delaney.

Since that inspection, Delaney said she’s been left in the dark with OG&E.

“They’ve not answered the phone. They’ve not answered my emails and it gets me down,” added Delaney.

Because of the lack of communication, Delaney emailed KFOR for help.

“No one else was listening. And that’s the thing that has me most upset. If there were a problem with it, fine. We would deal with it. But I’ve got to know about it. And there’s been no communication. That’s what has me very, very frustrated,” stated Delaney. “They simply don’t communicate.”

News 4 reached out to OG&E to see what the hold up was.

“We care about the safety of our customers and have in place a multi-step process that must be completed to ensure customer’s solar system can be safely put online. We provide customers with a solar checklist so they know what steps must be completed before their system installation can be completed. In the case of [Mary Delaney], our records indicate we are awaiting [Mary Delaney] to provide inspection documents. Once those documents are received, their applications can move forward to the next step in the process. Customers are able to contact our renewable energy team directly with questions about the status of their applications.” OG&E Spokesperson

Delaney said she wasn’t aware she needed to turn over any inspection documents, but if she had known, it could have been a simple fix with communication.

“I want the meter installed. I want to go on about my life. I want to see if this is going to turn out as good as it is, because, of course, like anybody else, if it turns out really good, I’ll tell the world about it,” said Delaney.

Late Tuesday afternoon, Delaney called News 4 to say an OG&E representative had called her with good news.

“Evidently somebody heard about the KFOR filming this morning at my house with the complaint about OG&E because my account has been corrected and I will need to fill out another form but that doesn’t matter. My system will be going in about another month,” said Delaney. “I thank you very, very much. Thank you so much.”

We’ll check back in with Delaney then.