Omaha Public Power District topped the list of similarly sized utilities in the Midwest region in 2024, according to a national syndicated study. The accomplishment was included in the district’s annual monitoring report for Strategic Directive (SD) 5: Customer Satisfaction, presented to the board of directors at this evening’s monthly meeting.
The utility uses syndicated customer surveys to measure satisfaction. Nationwide, weather and economic pressures, such as inflation and decreased energy assistance funding, are making an impact. As a result, overall utility industry residential customer satisfaction survey scores have taken a hit.
“OPPD is not immune to those impacts. We had a very challenging severe weather season last year and are off to a challenging start to the season this year,” said Matt Hardebeck, director of Customer Experience and Operations.
Even with those factors, he said, OPPD not only achieved SD-5’s goal of top-quartile performance this past year for residential customers but placed first overall when compared with utilities of similar size in the region.
“Our customer service representatives scored particularly well, according to supplemental satisfaction surveys administered by MSR Surveys,” Hardebeck said. “Of those residential customers who’ve interacted with our team, 87% said they were satisfied with the service they received. And of small to medium business customers surveyed, 93% said they were satisfied.”
The report also outlined the different channels through which we give our customers a voice. These include social media, OPPD.com, our mobile app, by phone and in person, such as our monthly board meetings and other community outreach events.
“While we are glad to see these results, we must continue to improve upon our customers’ experience,” said Tim McAreavey, vice president of Customer Service. “That’s our commitment as a public power provider.”
At tonight’s monthly board meeting, directors accepted the SD-5 monitoring report, which means they find OPPD to be sufficiently in compliance with the directive.
Reliability report
The board also discussed and accepted the annual SD-4: Reliability monitoring report. When compared to other regional utilities, the report notes that OPPD would be considered to have top quartile performance with reliability of electric service.
Other highlights include that OPPD had energy supply to meet system demands, minimized duration and frequency of outages, and met applicable regulatory reliability standards. Storms presented increased challenges in 2024. OPPD’s system design is evolving to meet these challenges, including investing in our infrastructure for greater resiliency and devoting more resources to tree trimming to help prevent interference with power lines, among other areas.
The report also points to the improvements OPPD has made in generating plant reliability, while acknowledging the need for continued improvement in this area.
“We must continue to invest in our system to ensure we take care of our customers’ needs in this rapidly evolving utility landscape,” said Troy Via, vice president and Chief Operating Officer.
By accepting the report, the board finds OPPD is taking reasonable and appropriate measures to comply with this directive.
In other action, the board:
- Approved the December 2024, January 2025, and February 2025 financial reports.
- Approved the March 2025 meeting minutes and the April 17, 2025, agenda.
- Accepted the SD-14: Retirement Plan Funding monitoring report, finding OPPD to be sufficiently in compliance with this directive.
- Awarded a contract to Wesco in the amount of $2,389,9002 for the procurement of insulators and hardware for the Cass to Sarpy Transmission Project.
- Authorized OPPD management to reject all proposals received and instead enter into a negotiated contract for the replacement of the exhaust stack silencer panels for Sarpy County Station Unit 3.
Next board meetings
The next all-committees meeting will be held in-person Tuesday, May 13, at 10 a.m. at Blue Cross Blue Shield, 1919 Aksarben Dr., as well as virtually, via Webex. The meeting link and instructions will be available at OPPD.com/CommitteeAgenda, beginning about 9:45 a.m., depending on the duration of a preceding closed-session meeting, if needed.
The next monthly board meeting is Thursday, May 15, at 5 p.m., both in-person at the Legislative Chamber of the Omaha Civic Center, 1819 Farnam St., as well as virtually via Webex. The public can attend virtually by accessing the meeting link and instructions at OPPD.com/BoardAgenda, beginning at 4:45 p.m.