OPPD continues talking to North Omaha residents about power plant
OMAHA, Neb. (Nebraska) — The OPPD continues to negotiate with the North Omaha community as the date for the conversion of two coal blocks at the North Omaha station to natural gas shifts to 2026 instead of later this year.
North Omaha residents, elected officials and members of the OPPD team gathered at Florence City Hall Tuesday for a panel discussion.
This included what matters most to the community and what they expect from their utility company.
It was important for OPPD to talk about the challenges they face when connecting new generators to the grid. These issues include the labor force and the supply chain.
“We want the community to understand why. We don’t want people to become electrical engineers. We don’t want them to understand all the nuances. But we want them to understand that there are certain processes and steps that must be in place to ensure a safe and reliable operation, and these steps are being delayed,” said Brad Underwood, vice president of systems transformation.
He says many of these steps are outside the company’s control. Residents discussed their concerns, such as health and communication, and the urgency of closing the coal-fired power plant. This is what Kay Karn, a North Omaha resident of over 25 years, hopes to see as soon as possible.
“I also think it’s a clean energy issue. I am concerned about climate change for my children and for everyone on this planet, and this plant has been around for a long time, and I think it’s time to switch to cleaner energy sources. energy,” Karn said.
The OPPD says they plan to have more meetings and changes are now expected around 2026.
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