Omaha Public Power District began installing advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) last year. And this week, utility leaders shared an update with the OPPD Board of Directors on how the technology is already yielding big benefits.
AMI helps pinpoint power outages faster and more precisely. The new technology gives customers a more detailed picture of their energy usage and how to improve efficiency. It also helps reduce longer-term billing and meter-reading costs, catch potential problems early and strengthen the overall grid.
OPPD has swapped out older meters for the new technology for 12,500 customers to date. By the end of 2026, we hope to install 3,000 more AMI meters. We will ramp up these efforts throughout our 13-county service territory starting in January 2027.
We are already realizing benefits of this technology. OPPD has detected 8,900 power outages in locations with the new meters. AMI has also saved the utility 1,795 truck rollouts by being able to conduct work remotely for meter reading, starting service or stopping service and more, which keeps costs down for OPPD and our customer-owners.
Customers shouldn’t wait until they have a new meter to enroll in MyOPPD. This platform is available at MyOPPD.com on desktops and the free MyOPPD app, available for download for Apple and Android.
Through MyOPPD, customers can manage their accounts, make payments, report power outages and personalize their preferences and notifications from OPPD. This includes confirmation that OPPD is aware of their outage, estimated restoration times from the field, and notification when power is restored. They can also set “quiet hours,” when they do not want to be disturbed.
To date, 64% of customers have enrolled in MyOPPD. Only 6.7% have downloaded the new app. OPPD is working to raise awareness of the platform so that more customers can take advantage of the benefits – now and once their new meters are installed.
In other action, the board:
- Approved the March 2026 financial reports, April 2026 meeting minutes and May 21, 2026, agenda.
- Accepted the Strategic Directive 3: Access to Credit Markets monitoring report. Acceptance by the board means directors find the utility sufficiently in compliance with the directive.
- Accepted service regulation updates to clarify easement and right-of-way authority, ensure safe and unobstructed access of metering and operating equipment and clarify customer responsibilities.
- Received and approved the district’s annual health plan report.
- Awarded two supplemental labor contracts to Nielsen construction, one in the amount of $7,723,903, and one in the amount of $2,194,389.00, to replace aging infrastructure in the metro and north rural portions of OPPD’s service territory. The approved contracts are for initial terms of three years with the option to renew three additional one-year terms based upon management’s assessments of the contractor’s performance. Work is slated to begin in July.
Next board meetings
The next all-committees meeting will be held in person Tuesday, June 16, 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, June 18, 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.