Priority: Inclusive Public Engagement

Nebraska is extremely fortunate to be a 100% public power state. The benefits we’ve experienced are immense, and it is an important advantage for the state and for the Omaha community.

One such advantage is that OPPD is essentially owned by its customer-owners. That’s you. As such, it has been a priority of mine to increase and improve the work OPPD does to engage its customer-owners.

The district has dramatically improved the way in which it engages the public. One such example is at oppdcommunityconnect.com. This is a place for customer-owners to learn more about OPPD’s big initiatives, and to share input, insights and ideas. It’s a great platform that’s rich with content, and it was an instrumental tool during the darkest days of the pandemic.

In person engagement is also extremely important, and OPPD does an excellent job of meeting people where they are. Rather than asking interested parties to attend a new, OPPD-specific meeting, the district sends its people to the places where people are already congregating and working to make our communities better.

As OPPD continues to quickly change, inclusively engaging customer-owners will be an even higher priority. The future of OPPD is one where customer-owners will play a greater role in generating their own power. They will own electric vehicles that pull power from and add power back to the grid. They will have advanced metering technology that could ensure their electricity demand occurs when it costs the least. The point is this: OPPD must effectively engage its customer-owners in shaping and pursuing the utility of the future. I believe inclusive public engagement will be at the core of the district’s ability to succeed.