Cynthia Keeler said she and her husband, Paul, had shared an OG&E account for decades. When she began transferring household utility accounts into her name after his death on Aug. 20, she said the water and gas changes went smoothly, but OG&E told her she would be considered a new customer because the electric account was in her husband’s name.

Keeler said she had already provided the company with her name and Social Security number when she was told a new deposit would be required. The couple had paid a deposit years earlier, she said.

Her daughter, Lucinda Eddens, said the family could afford the charge but questioned why a surviving spouse should have to pay again. Eddens asked members of a Facebook group whether others had faced the same situation and received responses from people who said they had experienced it or knew someone who had.

OG&E waived the deposit after reviewing Keeler’s account. The company expressed condolences to the family and said it had removed the requirement.

The utility said that when a primary account holder dies, it must establish a new account under another responsible party’s name. If the prior account had a deposit, the new account may also be subject to one.

The company had not yet answered follow-up questions about whether a deposit from an account in good standing can be transferred to a surviving spouse’s new account, or why Keeler’s charge was waived. Other Oklahomans contacted the local television station after the story first aired to report similar experiences.

Keeler and Paul had been married for more than 58 years. Paul was a Vietnam veteran who died after choosing not to undergo dialysis, his family said. Three days before his death, he completed a potholder rug that went on to win first place at the state fair.