2:45 p.m., March 6, 2025 – Customers in need of assistance, there are resources available to those impacted by the storm that occurred the evening of March 4th through the 5th.
Replacement SNAP Requests: OPPD is actively working with the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to ensure customers impacted by the storms actively participating in the SNAP Program will have timely access to replacement benefits. Instead of customers and the State having to verify outage durations once request at a time, OPPD has sent a custom outage file to enable a streamline customer experience for SNAP recipients impacted by the outages. OPPD customers participating in the SNAP Program that had a power outage lasting more than four hours for refrigerated food or twenty-four hours for frozen food are eligible to apply for replacement SNAP benefits. Customers that have any questions about SNAP replacement eligibility or want to apply, please refer them to contact AccessNebraska at 402-595-1258 or 1-800-383-4278.
Quick reminder about customers needing repairs to their customer owned electric equipment because of the storm: Habitat’s Home Repair Program is an assistance resource for customers in Douglas, Sarpy, Washington, and Burt Counties. Customers needing financial assistance for repairs specific to their customer owned electric service equipment can apply for this program. Customer can apply for the program online at https://habitatomaha.org/programs/home-repair/ or email homerepair@habitatomaha.org for more information. Important note: Customers with household income higher than 100% of AMI, are not eligible for the program. Please see the image below for definition of customers owned equipment.
12:30 p.m., March 6, 2025 – We are nearing the finish line with power outage restoration related to the storm. From the peak at 14,296 without power yesterday, we are down to 103 customers. OPPD’s crews, as well as crews from L.E. Meyers, Metro troubleshooters and tree crews are working around the clock to restore power as safely and quickly as possible.
Please continue to report any new or recurrent outages if you have not already done so, via OPPD.com, our OPPDConnect app, or by calling our automated outage reporting line at 800-554-OPPD (6773).
We will inform you as the storm related outages are restored. Thank you for your patience during this time.
8:30 a.m., March 6, 2025 – Our crews worked through the night to restore power to customers who lost power during the wind event of Tuesday Night. There are still 119 outages remaining, as of 7:15 a.m., 98.9% customers have been restored.
We promise that we won’t let up until every single customer has electricity again.
If you are still without power, lost power again after having it restored, or have a new outage, please let us know. You can do that at OPPD.com, our OPPDConnect app, or by calling our automated outage reporting line at 800-554-OPPD (6773).
We will keep you informed as the last storm-related outage is fixed. Thank you for your patience during this time.
6:15 p.m., March 5, 2025 – The combination of heavy snow and high winds resulted in numerous power outages in the OPPD territory, with the peak number at 14,296. As of 6 p.m. on Wednesday, March 5, we have restored power to more than 95% of customers who experienced an outage.
This means that approximately 400-500 customers are still without power and may not see full restoration until later this evening.
OPPD’s crews, as well as crews from L.E. Meyers and Watts Electric, are working around the clock to restore power as safely and quickly as possible. With the weather forecasting no additional precipitation and winds dying down more and more, we anticipate this to help with restoration timing.
However, customers are still encouraged to be prepared for possible additional outages, as substantial snow and cold temperatures overnight could still lead to conditions that result in galloping lines or even delayed trees/debris falling onto lines.
We also continue to stress safety – safety for our customers and our crews.
If you encounter downed power lines, always assume they are live, high-voltage and extremely dangerous. Stay far back and call OPPD at 1-800-554-OPPD (6773) right away to report the hazard.
While we know it’s hard to be without power, if you are in that situation and see our crews working, please refrain from approaching them. Their work is dangerous, and they need to focus.
We will keep you posted as we know more. And we want to thank our customers for their patience during such a difficult time.
12:30 p.m., March 5, 2025 – We’re making more progress today in our push to restore power to everyone as safely and quickly as possible.
The number of customers without power is down to 4,654 as of noon, down from a peak of 14,300 last night when extreme winds battered our service territory. We’ll provide more updates as soon as we get them.
We’re also working closely with our local and state partners.
We have some news about resources that might be of help:
Replacement SNAP Request/Outage Verification requests: OPPD is actively working with the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to ensure customers impacted by the storms will have timely access to Replacement SNAP (food stamp) benefits.
Instead of customers and the State having to verify outage durations once request at a time, OPPD will send a custom outage file to enable a streamline customer experience for SNAP recipients impacted by the outages. OPPD customers participating in the SNAP Program that had a power outage lasting more than four hours for refrigerated food or twenty-four hours for frozen food can apply for replacement SNAP benefits.
SNAP recipients do not receive replacement SNAP benefits automatically, the household must initiate a request with DHHS. If customer have any questions about SNAP replacement eligibility or wants to make a request, please refer them to contact AccessNebraska at 402-595-1258 or 1-800-383-4278.
11:00 a.m., March 5, 2025 – Our field crews are reporting that working conditions have been extremely difficult due to the continued wind, blowing snow and cold temperatures. Travel conditions for our crews has also been rough, particularly a problem in the south rural part of our service territory.
While outage numbers are fluctuating quite a bit as the weather continues, we have restored power to about 50% of customers impacted at the height of this event. We do not yet have restoration time estimates. Our damage assessment team is working today to get a better idea of the damage and what repairs will entail. We are fully staffed and also have mutual aid support from 8 LE Myers helping us right now. That’s one of our contract partners. We also have a crew from Beatrice Utilities on the way to assist. And we’re communicating with other utilities and contractors so they’re on standby in the event we need more support.
Once again we want to remind our customers, if they encounter downed power lines, always assume they’re live, high-voltage and extremely dangerous. Stay far back and call OPPD to report the hazard, 1-800-554-OPPD (6773).
9:30 a.m., March 5, 2025 – Currently, we have 9,620 power outages throughout several counties we serve. Douglas County and Sarpy County are most impacted, followed by Cass County.
A few reminders:
- If you see a crew working nearby, please give them space and don’t distract them or interfere with their work. Restoring electrical service is physically and mentally demanding, and the safety of our workers and the public is our absolute top priority.
- To report downed power lines or an outage on private property, please contact our Customer Service team online or at 1-800-554-OPPD (6773). Or use the OPPDconnect app.
Thank you again for your patience, and please remember again to be safe.
8:30 a.m., March 5, 2025 – Our damage assessment teams are currently surveying the damage. We are working to restore power to 11,763 customers impacted by the high winds, snow and ice.
While we know it’s hard to be without power, especially in the cold, we ask that you refrain from approaching our crews in the field. They have a tough, dangerous job, and they need to maintain complete focus to safely restore electric service.
7:30 a.m., March 5, 2025 – Currently, we have 12,685 power outages throughout nearly all of the counties we serve. Douglas County and Sarpy County are most impacted, followed by Cass County. Our damage assessment team will be getting a closer look at the damage from high winds, which began Tuesday afternoon and continue through today. We continue to focus on the safety of our customers and crews.
If you are without power and have not reported it, please do so at OPPD.com, via the OPPDConnect app or by calling 1-800-554-OPPD (6773). We will continue to post outage and restoration updates here as we learn more from our storm team.
5:00 a.m. – Our crews worked through the night as conditions allowed, working to restore power to thousands of customers impacted by high winds, snow and ice. This morning, 13,966 customers are without power. The safety of our crews is paramount.
Depending on the nature of repairs needed, our response may be delayed until dangerously strong gusts subside. Just navigating roadways to get to outage areas is also difficult and slow going. Surrounding utilities are working through the same storm impacts and challenges as we are. OPPD’s damage assessment team will be able to better survey the damage during the daylight hours.
During windstorms like this, we typically see damage caused by trees, tree limbs and other debris being blown down and into power equipment. This has been especially prevalent in older, heavily treed areas like Midtown, North and South Omaha and Bellevue. Another contributing factor we see is galloping lines. That’s what happens to power
lines coated with moisture when they freeze. The water freezes into a teardrop shape, making the line more aerodynamic. This can cause power lines to knock into one another when winds kick up.
Outage numbers may fluctuate as people wake up to discover they lost power overnight and throughout the day until wind gusts subside. If you are without power and have not reported it, please do so at OPPD.com, via the OPPDConnect app or by calling 1-800-554-OPPD (6773).
While we know it’s hard to be without power, especially in the cold, we ask that you refrain from approaching our crews in the field. They have a tough, dangerous job, and they need to maintain complete focus to safely restore electric service.
We’ll continue to post updates on power outages, challenges our team is facing and restoration progress as conditions warrant. Thanks to our impacted customers for your patience and grace during this difficult event.