Joni Wheeler will serve as Omaha Public Power District’s next vice president of Human Capital, a department that hires and supports the utility’s workforce that serves eastern Nebraska.
The OPPD Board of Directors approved Wheeler’s appointment, effective April 27, at its monthly meeting on Thursday.
Wheeler most recently served as executive vice president of strategic talent and enterprise shared services at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Nebraska (BCBSNE). She joined BCBSNE in 2014 while serving as president and CEO of CoreLink Administrative Solutions. Those dual roles allowed her to pursue her professional passions of people leadership and transformation.
Prior to CoreLink and BCBSNE, Wheeler held leadership roles at First Data Corporation as well as system design and management positions at West Corporation.
In 2021, Wheeler founded Ignite Nebraska, a paid apprenticeship program dedicated to elevating untapped talent with access to highly skilled, high-paying and high-demand roles. She currently serves on the board of directors for the Institute for Career Advancement Needs (ICAN), the Boys Town National Board of Trustees and Ignite Nebraska. She also is part of a UNO women’s Maverick basketball mentoring program and a strong advocate for mental illness programs for children.
“We’re thrilled to have Joni join our team,” said OPPD President and CEO Javier Fernandez. “Her extensive experience, passion for service and focus on people will be a tremendous asset for OPPD.”
Wheeler replaces McKell Purnell, who joined OPPD in 2018. Purnell stepped down in 2025 for a public power leadership position in Arizona.
In other action, the board:
- Approved the December 2025, January 2026 and February financial reports, March 2026 meeting minutes and the April 16, 2026 agenda.
- Approved the standing committee annual charter review revisions and non-substantive board policy updates.
- Approved a labor-only contract with Nielsen Construction for an initial term of three years, with an option to renew up to three additional one-year contract terms, for the procurement of construction services. These services are related to equipment installations in new underground residential and commercial developments. The $2.39 million proposal was deemed the lowest and best bid. Work associated with the contract is scheduled to begin in July.
- Received and accepted the reliability monitoring report for Strategic Directive 4, which tracks OPPD’s system-wide reliability. The report found OPPD had generation and energy supply available to meet customer demands through all of 2025 and met all regulatory requirements to ensure a reliable transmission system. The utility also met its goals for average customer outage frequency and exceeded its goal for average customer outage duration. OPPD also showed strong improvement in the winter reliability of its generation resources, although the report noted that more improvements are needed to reduce forced generation outages.
- Received and accepted the customer satisfaction monitoring report for Strategic Directive 5. Acceptance means the board finds the utility sufficiently in compliance with the directives.
- Received and accepted OPPD's employee retirement plan funding monitoring report for Strategic Directive 14.
- Approved the 2026 debt issuance authorization to issue debt. OPPD staff requested authorization to issue up to $1.4 billion in tax-exempt senior lien bonds through March 31, 2027, for new capital investments, to fund capitalized interest and to refinance existing debt. The authorization gives OPPD the flexibility to finance new and existing projects in an efficient manner.
Next board meetings
The next all-committees meeting will be held in person Tuesday, May 19, at 10 a.m. at OPPD administrative offices, 1919 Aksarben Dr. in Omaha, and virtually via Webex. The meeting link and instructions will be available at OPPD.com/CommitteeAgenda, beginning at about 9:45 a.m.
The next monthly board meeting is Thursday, May 21, at 5 p.m., in person at the Legislative Chamber of the Omaha-Douglas Civic Center, 1819 Farnam St., as well as virtually via Webex. The public can attend virtually via the meeting link and instructions at OPPD.com/BoardAgenda, beginning at 4:45 p.m.