- The OPPD Board voted 6–2 to continue burning coal, delaying the promised transition to natural gas until at least 2028.
- Advocates and state leaders say the decision raises transparency concerns and question whether OPPD was truly on track to transition by 2026.
- The board also approved its 2026 budget, including an average electric rate increase of more than 6 percent.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
The North Omaha Power Station will continue burning coal, delaying its previously promised transition to natural gas after a vote by the OPPD Board of Directors.
The board’s decision to delay the transition surprised many who attended the utility’s meeting.
Advocate Anthony Rodgers Wright questioned whether the new plan truly moves the utility closer to its stated goal.
“We have no reason to believe that this newest resolution is going to put them on track… to transition as they should,” Wright said.Wright added that the updated timeline offers little reassurance to community members who have pushed for years to move away from coal.
“It’s baseless, there’s no way they can say that with all these things out of control—you cannot say we’re in the driver’s seat when you’re not even in the car,” he said.The measure passed on a 6–2 vote, with Directors Sara Howard and Eric Williams casting the only votes against continuing to burn coal.
Williams said the utility had already fallen behind the timeline needed to meet its original goal.
“It was known at the beginning of the discussion tonight that we had essentially already missed the steps that would be necessary to achieve the outcome by 2026,” Williams said.State Senator Terrell McKinney said the core issue surrounding the decision is transparency.
“That’s the issue because up until August or September they kept saying it was on track as far as the transition,” McKinney said. “So—there was something not said, that they left out of the conversation.”With the board’s vote, the transition to natural gas is now on hold until at least 2028.
In the same meeting, OPPD also approved its 2026 budget, which includes an average rate increase of more than six percent for customers.
In downtown Omaha, I’m Melissa Wright.
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