OPPD Board of Directors approves proposal for purchase of Utility's former downtown Omaha headquarters

At their monthly meeting this evening, the Omaha Public Power District Board of Directors gave utility management the go-ahead to work with a developer on the purchase of its former downtown headquarters. 

OPPD leaders presented a proposal recommending the sale of Energy Plaza, 444 S. 16th St. Mall, to Urban Village for $13,250,875, during board committee meetings this week. Urban Village is a local developer planning mixed use residential and commercial project on the site. With the board’s approval, due diligence begins immediately, with an anticipated closing in April 2027.

OPPD has been gradually transitioning out of Energy Plaza as part of a long-term effort to modernize its workspace and operations. The utility now leases space in the Blue Cross Blue Shield building at 1919 Aksarben Dr., for its administrative headquarters. 

“It would have been very costly for us to refurbish a building that would not have delivered the larger meeting spaces we needed,” said President and CEO Javier Fernandez. “At same time, we saw this enormous load growth and the need to spend capital on building electrical infrastructure.” 

Redevelopment by a qualified buyer like Urban Village, he said, lets OPPD focus on facilities better suited for the future, while helping breathe new life into an important downtown location. “This shows the way that we are pivoting and adapting to best deploy our resources to meet our customers’ needs.”  

OPPD conducted an extensive, competitive process to identify the right buyer and community-aligned plan for the property. Urban Village’s redevelopment vision includes mixed-use residential and commercial spaces, which supports downtown vitality. The developer will set aside 250 spaces within the Energy Plaza parking garage for public use. 

Strategic Directive 9: System Planning 

At this week’s committee meetings, the board also received and discussed the Strategic Directive (SD) 9: Integrated System Planning monitoring report, which highlighted record-setting demand over the past five years. That growth coupled with increasingly stringent planning reserve margin (PRM) requirements by the Southwest Power Pool, has created resource adequacy challenges. Despite these challenges, OPPD has satisfied PRM requirements for each of those years, including 2026.  

OPPD continues to experience substantial growth and is advancing hundreds of miles of new grid expansion along with a diverse mix of new resources to meet near-term resource needs and bolster reliability and resiliency of the electric system, and the utility continually evaluates potential needs for additional resources as part of its 2026 Integrated System Plan (ISP). This plan, updated every five years, helps guide the utility’s long-term system decisions to support growth, maintain reliability, and serve its customer-owners effectively. The next such plan will be presented to the district’s board of directors and submitted to the Western Area Power Administration (WAPA) by the end of the year. That’s the deadline set by WAPA as part of a hydropower contract with OPPD. 

OPPD has held a series of ISP workshops this year, inviting the public to learn about the electric system planning process and share input. The next workshop, during which some initial results will be shared, will be held online Tuesday, September 22, at 5 p.m. Those who wish to attend are encouraged to register in advance at OPPDCommunityConnect.com/isp to receive calendar invitations and reminders.  

Time of Use pilot 

OPPD leaders also shared details of their Time of Use Residential Rate Pilot proposal. A Time of Use (TOU) rate incentivizes customers to use less energy during peak hours, with lower charges for energy used during off-peak hours and higher charges for energy used during peak times. More than 350 Time of Use Rate programs are offered across the United States, serving 16 million customers. 

Customers who are currently on the standard residential rate and have a smart meter that was installed by June 1, 2026, would be eligible to opt-in to the pilot on a voluntary basis. Instead of the standard summer energy rate of 11.94 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh) between June 1 and September 30, the preliminary costs for pilot participants would be: 

• *32.2 cents per kWh from peak hours of 3 to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday 

• *8.055 cents per kWh during all other (off-peak) hours 

*Actual figures may change based upon the 2027 Corporate Operating Plan 

There would be no rate changes outside of summer month. Participating customers could opt-out of the pilot at any time. More details about the proposed pilot can be found at OPPDCommunityConnect.com. The public can provide comments about the pilot via that website over the next month. Board members will consider the feedback prior to voting on the pilot during their October 15 meeting.  

If the pilot is approved, OPPD will reach out to eligible customers starting in December, with a goal of enrolling at least 300 customers in the pilot. It would start in the second quarter of 2027. Their experience and feedback will help inform and tweak the broader TOU rate, slated to roll out in 2029. 

In other action, the board: 

• Approved the July 2026 financial report, August 2026 meeting minutes, and September 17, 2026, agenda, and the 2027 board meeting schedule. 

• Accepted the SD-10: Ethics monitoring report, indicating OPPD is sufficiently in compliance with the board’s directive. 

• Approved a policy revision to Board Linkage 12: Delegation to the President and CEO – Transmission, Wholesale Electricity, Fuel and other Energy Transactions. 

• Authorized the increase of Commercial Paper Program by $250 million up to a maximum of $600 million total. The program provides a flexible, low-cost form of financing to reduce debt service costs, providing an added source of liquidity, if needed.  

Next board meetings  

The next all-committees meeting will be held in person Tuesday, Oct. 13, 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, Oct. 15, 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.