OPPD talks continuing effort to strengthen power grid in wake of storm damage

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - It's been an active weather year so far for the Omaha Public Power District's coverage area.

Between the April tornadoes, storms and flooding in June, and devastating winds in July, it's led to an estimated total cost of just under $38 million.

On Thursday, its board of directors unanimously approved switching to regulatory accounting for storm restoration costs that qualify for FEMA reimbursement.

"This is actually a form of accounting that a lot of utilities use when it comes to storms and storm-related costs." said media specialist Jodi Baker. "It's so that the expenses that you're kind of marking down as that you incurred during this storm, it will actually be marked down and incurred during the year where you're hopefully going to be getting some compensation."

By doing that, OPPD said storm-related costs won't have an impact on its net income, so customers won't see higher prices because of it.

Some might question what the utility district is doing to strengthen Omaha's power grid, especially since the July 31 windstorm was the second in three years to cause a blackout across much of the metro.

"We are spending about five times what we were spending 10 years ago to do things like modernize the infrastructure and to harden it against storms," Baker said.

They said this includes reinforcing transformers, burying power lines, and adding more generators.

However, switching to underground power lines is only feasible in certain parts of town that are not densely packed.

"There might not be enough space," Baker said. "So you might be looking at where buildings are too close together or there might be pools or other structures in people's yards or you might be looking at big businesses that are in the path."

She said they are trimming more trees, which are a huge cause of power outages.

There is no timeline for how long it will take to finish modernizing the metro's power grid.

"It's something we're always working on," Baker said. "And we know we can always improve, and we know we can always do more."

Next month, OPPD will begin discussing how much of its preliminary budget will go toward that work, with the vote happening in December.