Aug. 6, 2024
8 p.m.
Good evening. We’re still working very hard tonight to restore power to every last customer affected by Wednesday’s extreme windstorm. We made progress today, reducing our outage total to 3,490 as of 8 p.m., which is 98% of the customers who lost power.
But we want you to know we aren’t backing off. Restoring your power is still our absolute top priority, and we aren’t stopping until the job is done.
Today we had about 1,500 workers in the field from OPPD, our mutual aid partners and tree-trimming contractors.
Behind the scenes, many other OPPD employees have worked tirelessly since the storm to dispatch field workers, coordinate the restoration work and help the crews do their jobs as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Others have fielded a deluge of customer calls, providing guidance and answering questions with the best information we have. You may not see them in the field, but please know they are just as committed to restoring your power and returning you to normalcy as the front-line workers.
A few other reminders:
If you have a new or repeat outage to report, please contact us at OPPD.com, through our OPPDConnect app, or by calling 1-800-554-OPPD (6773). It’s possible some trees or other things weakened during last week’s storm could cause new problems, even in light wind.
We are continuing to receive reports from customers of scammers trying to take advantage of the situation.
Callers are apparently claiming that customers need to pay for reconnection as part of outage restoration work. This is not the case. In the past, scammers have also tried to convince utility customers that they’re overdue on bills, need to pay for meters, or other equipment. They are often aggressive, telling customers if they don’t pay over the phone with a pre-paid debit or credit card or other banking information, they will disconnect service soon.
OPPD warns customers not to fall for these ploys. NEVER provide personal or financial information during an unsolicited phone call. ALWAYS hang up. Customers who have questions on their account or bill status, or if in need of financial assistance, should call us at 402-536-4131 in the Omaha calling area or 877-536-4131 outside of the Omaha area.
3 p.m.
Crews continue working diligently to bring all of our customers back online following Wednesday’s devastating windstorm. With work done so far today, the number of people without power is at 9,195 customers, down from the more than 218,000 customers at the peak of the storm.
If you have a new or repeat outage to report, please contact us at OPPD.com, through our OPPDConnect app, or by calling 1-800-554-OPPD (6773). It’s possible some trees or other things weakened during last week’s storm could cause new problems, even in light wind.
Know that we will continue working alongside our mutual aid partners to bring power back online to all those still waiting to be restored.
We are continuing to receive reports from customers of scammers trying to take advantage of the situation.
Callers are apparently claiming that customers need to pay for reconnection as part of outage restoration work. This is not the case. In the past, scammers have also tried to convince utility customers that they’re overdue on bills, need to pay for meters, or other equipment. They are often aggressive, telling customers if they don’t pay over the phone with a pre-paid debit or credit card or other banking information, they will disconnect service soon.
OPPD warns customers not to fall for these ploys. NEVER provide personal or financial information during an unsolicited phone call. ALWAYS hang up. Customers who have questions on their account or bill status, or if in need of financial assistance, should call us at 402-536-4131 in the Omaha calling area or 877-536-4131 outside of the Omaha area.
Additionally, do not allow entrance to somebody claiming to be from the utility who appears at your door without providing identification. OPPD employees always carry identification. Failure to produce identification should always be a tip-off to the customer that something is wrong. Also, be wary of sales pitches from companies claiming to represent or work with OPPD.
10:45 a.m.
With slow but steady work, nearly 13,500 customers are currently without power. Our efforts will not let up. Our workforce of 1,500 employees, mutual aid, and forestry support crews are working hard to restore power to the customers still out after. This team includes supply chain, clerks, call center, communications and logistics support, among other areas.
Wednesday night’s storm left 218,332 customers in the dark. As of this morning, about 7% of customers impacted by the storm are still waiting for relief.
On Monday, we called those who were still without power to try and give our best, updated estimate on when power will be restored. That does not mean your power will not come on sooner. We just wanted to tell you where your area stood based on the latest damage assessments at the time. We are still hoping to have all customers back online by the end of Friday, barring any unexpected challenges.
If you did not receive a message or have a new or repeat outage to report, please contact us at OPPD.com, through our OPPDConnect app, or by calling 1-800-554-OPPD (6773). It’s possible some trees or other things weakened during last week’s storm could cause new problems, even in light wind.
6:30 a.m. – OPPD and mutual aid crews worked overnight, restoring power to nearly 1,000 customers. They are back in full force for the sixth day of power restoration following last Wednesday’s devastating storm. This morning, more than 14,800 customers remain without power.
We are getting some reports from our team out in the field that some customers may have had appliances like stoves turned on when power went out. If you’re still awaiting power restoration, please check and make sure all appliances are off. You may want to turn a light on, however, so you know right away when your power is back.
We understand how frustrating and uncomfortable it is to be without something as essential as electricity. We are working hard to bring your power back as soon as we can. Some customers received a phone message yesterday with an updated estimate on when we believe we can restore your service, barring unforeseen issues. That does not mean you will not get power back sooner than that estimate, and we hope that you will. However, we wanted to give you an opportunity to make plans if we think your repairs will be particularly complex. Sometimes it’s hard to know that until we have gotten deeper into our work.
We estimate that all customers will have service restored by the end of Friday, barring any further unforeseen complications. Again, for customers who received an end-of-day Friday message, please know that we intend to make steady progress every day this week, and your service could be restored earlier than Friday.
If you don’t have power and did not receive a phone message from OPPD, please contact us at OPPD.com, through our OPPDConnect app, or by calling 1-800-554-OPPD (6773). If possible, please call us from the number that is listed in your account information with us, as that may help streamline the process.
Here are some answers to frequently asked questions about power outages. Among them, some customers are wondering why OPPD does not bury all power lines to avoid tree damage during storms. We have been looking into this matter for several years as part of our resiliency planning work and do bury power lines when we have the opportunity to do so and it is feasible. However, it is not always feasible. Read this story for more information on this topic.
We’ve also been asked about who is responsible for tree cleanup. OPPD’s job is to restore power, which may mean trimming back or removing trees from power lines and equipment. However, we do not clean up customers’ tree debris following storms. This story has more information on this process, including our regular tree trimming work for reliability.
You can read previous days’ Storm and Outage Center updates here.