Omaha Public Power District

Omaha Public Power District
Company typePublicly owned
PredecessorNebraska Power Company
FoundedDecember 2, 1946; 77 years ago (1946-12-02)
HeadquartersEnergy Plaza
444 South 16th Mall,
Omaha, NE
Area served
Eastern Nebraska
Key people
  • L. Javier Fernandez
    (President and CEO)
  • Amanda Bogner
    (Chair of the Board of Directors)
ServicesElectricity
Revenue1,428,905,000 United States dollar (2023) Edit this on Wikidata
Number of employees
1,797 (2019)
Websitewww.oppd.com
Footnotes / references
[1]

Omaha Public Power District (OPPD) is a public electric utility in the state of Nebraska. It is wholly owned by the Nebraska state government, and controlled by a special district. OPPD serves more than 855,000 people in Omaha and 13 surrounding counties in southeast eastern. OPPD was formed in 1946 as a political subdivision of the State of Nebraska, taking over the operations of the privately owned Nebraska Power Company. Nebraska is the only US state in which all electric utilities are government owned. A publicly elected eight-member Board of Directors sets rates and policies.

History

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The Nebraska Unicameral created OPPD as a division of the state government on December 2, 1946. It acquired the Maine-based Nebraska Power Company for $42,000,000 ($656 million in 2023) after a four-year political struggle. Prior to its acquisition, NPC was the only privately owned remaining in the state.[2] In January 1965, the Eastern Nebraska Public Power District was merged into OPPD, adding four counties to its service area. In September 1973, OPPD's Fort Calhoun Nuclear Generating Station entered commercial service. In 1996, OPPD purchased a rail line running from Lincoln to Nebraska City from BNSF Railway. In 2014, OPPD joined the newly created Southwest Power Pool. In December 2019, the board of the Omaha Public Power District voted to commit to net-zero emissions by 2050. A 400- to 600-megawatt solar array is planned, as is the closing of three gas-fired power units, and the conversion of two coal-burning units to natural gas.[3] In 2021, due to a storm, OPPD experienced its largest-ever outage, affecting 188,000 customers.[4][5]

OPPD was named "Highest in Customer Satisfaction among Midsize Utilities in the Midwest" in the J.D. Power and Associates 2009 Electric Utility Residential Customer Satisfaction Study.[6] In 2012, OPPD was awarded its 12th J.D. Power and Associates award.

Facilities

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Fort Calhoun on June 16, 2011, during the 2011 Missouri River Floods
OPPD-owned generating facilities[7]
Name Total
units		 Began Operating Location
(nearest city)		 Fuel Capacity Type
Cass County Station 2 2003 40°56′52″N 95°57′51″W / 40.947913°N 95.96403°W / 40.947913; -95.96403
(Murray, NE)		 Natural Gas 324 MW Peaking
Elk City Station 8 2002 41°23′02″N 96°15′16″W / 41.383993°N 96.254354°W / 41.383993; -96.254354
(Bennington, NE)		 Landfill gas 6 MW Baseload
Jones Street Station 2 1973 41°15′05″N 95°55′22″W / 41.251488°N 95.92268°W / 41.251488; -95.92268
(Omaha, NE)		 Fuel Oil 123 MW Peaking
Nebraska City 1 1 1979 40°37′14″N 95°46′28″W / 40.620486°N 95.774491°W / 40.620486; -95.774491
(Nebraska City, NE)		 Coal 654 MW Baseload
Nebraska City 2 1 2009 40°37′14″N 95°46′28″W / 40.620486°N 95.774491°W / 40.620486; -95.774491
(Nebraska City, NE)		 Coal 691 MW Baseload
North Omaha 1–3 3 1954 41°19′46″N 95°56′47″W / 41.329548°N 95.946311°W / 41.329548; -95.946311
(North Omaha, NE)		 Natural Gas 242 MW Peaking
North Omaha 4 & 5 2 1963 41°19′46″N 95°56′47″W / 41.329548°N 95.946311°W / 41.329548; -95.946311
(North Omaha, NE)		 Coal 336 MW Baseload
Sarpy County Station 6 1972 41°10′14″N 95°58′13″W / 41.170633°N 95.970223°W / 41.170633; -95.970223
(Bellevue, NE)		 Natural gas 316 MW Peaking
Standing Bear Lake Station 9 2024 41°18′57″N 96°05′43″W / 41.315866°N 96.095398°W / 41.315866; -96.095398
(Omaha, NE)		 Natural gas 150 MW Peaking
Turtle Creek Station 2 2024 41°05′47″N 96°10′13″W / 41.096319°N 96.170261°W / 41.096319; -96.170261
(Gretna, NE)		 Natural gas 450 MW Peaking

OPPD formerly operated the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Generating Station near Fort Calhoun. After 42 years of operation (interrupted by flooding from 2011 to 2013), the plant was shut down on October 25, 2016, and is in the process of being decommissioned.[8] OPPD operates other generating stations in North Omaha, Nebraska City, Valley, Elkhorn and in Cass County; coal, natural gas, oil, wind turbines, solar, and landfill gas are used to generate electricity at their power plants.

OPPD also purchases 81 megawatts of hydroelectricity capacity from the Western Area Power Administration. OPPD has the exclusive rights to power from two privately-operated solar power stations of 5 and 81 megawatts in Fort Calhoun and Saunders County respectively.[9]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Quick Facts" (PDF). OPPD. 21 December 2019. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
  2. ^ Pennock, Martin H. (1971-05-01). The formation of the Omaha Public Power District (MA thesis). ProQuest LLC. Retrieved 2024-07-20.
  3. ^ Uhlenhuth, Karen (December 5, 2019). "Nebraska utility bets on technological advances to meet carbon-cutting goals". Energy News Network. Retrieved 2019-12-19.
  4. ^ "Company History". OPPD. Retrieved 2024-07-20.
  5. ^ Comstock, Joe (2021-12-08). "A walk through 75 years of OPPD history". The Wire. OPPD. Retrieved 2024-07-20.
  6. ^ J.D. Power and Associates Archived 2010-01-17 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ OPPD. "Integrated Resource Plan" (PDF). p. 36. Retrieved 2024-07-20.
  8. ^ Epley, Cole (October 24, 2016). "Today, Fort Calhoun nuclear plant will go offline for good, marking the end of an era at OPPD". Omaha.com. Retrieved 2019-12-19.
  9. ^ "Service Area Map" (PDF). OPPD. Retrieved 2024-07-20.
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