[MikeT1]

Hello,
I'm wondering what the folks on this forum can tell me what Omaha residents and businesses think overall of OPPD, the programs they offer customers, rates, and your general outlook on energy efficiency programs and the like. I'm not an employee, but work for a company the provides programs and services for electric utilities (I live in KC) and would appreciate any and all frank answers.

As a related follow-up, I'd be interested in hearing attitudes about, and personal experience with, heating and cooling companies, too. (No need to use actual company names.)

Many thanks in advance for your replies.

Regards,
Mike

[pheaton]

As a customer of OPPD. It seems they are always adding new programs. Being a public utility their rates are always among the most competitive. They seem focused on energy conservation and "green" initiatives. They want us to conserve energy so they aren't forced into building new power plants and having to raise rates. Hopefully they never turn into a private company.

[MikeT1]

thank you pheaton. would you say the majority of people you know feel the same? a positive attitude toward OPPD's efforts in these areas?

[Calvinist]

I got no issues with OPPD and don't know of anyone that has any major complaints. I know there are some questions in some areas of town regarding the dependability service--such as whether or not they'll lose power in storms and such.

[MikeT1]

thanks calvinist! do practice anything in the way of energy conservation like using compact flouresent bulbs and such?

(heh... i don't think there's an electric utility out there that doesn't have realiability problems sometimes. in my own neighborhood, we'd get flickering lights and mini-outages - just enough to have to reset all the clocks and phones - with just a heavy gust of wind. i finally called KCPL, and emailed and whined loud enough they checked it all out and made some repairs farther down the circuit.)

[pheaton]

I think OPPD might be working on upgrading their infrastructure. As some of the current stuff breaks during the summer storms they are getting new stuff in place. I think they have a lot of old equipment out there that is more vulerable during adverse weather conditions. At my old job we lost power and my boss was talking to one of the linemen who said the stuff that caused that outage was really old and they were working between outages to upgrade stuff all over the place.

I imagine it will improve over the next several years and be more reliable and tolerant to storms.

I'm all about conserving energy. . I had my house built to energy star specifications, use all energy star appliances, and cycle my AC on really hot days to try and reduce energy usage. As my old bulbs burn out they are getting replaced with CFLs.

[McBain II]

We were always real happy with OPPD when we lived in Omaha.

[MikeT1]

thank you all for the responses so far! i appreciate it.

pheaton, sounds like you're doing all the right things. the cycling of the a/c is unique, but right in line with utility programs that do the same using a switch installed on the outdoor compressor, or a programmable thermostat. both operate using a paging signal that the utility sends when summer demand reaches a peak. the programs are growing in popularity both with customers and utilities. some utilities offer a bill credit in return, or provide the thermostat at no cost as an incentive to join. your thoughts about this?

you are probably in the minority with the level of your commitment to energy efficiency and demand reduction, but it is catching on.

[pheaton]

I like the A/C cycling through the power company. I'd take a free programmable thermostat to be involved in helping the power company keep peak load down and save money by them not having to build new power generating plants.

These thermostats also allow the owner to program their thermostat from anywhere via the Internet. Plus the thermostat can display messages such as "August payment recieved" or other messsages from your utility. Pretty neat.

[Dave1215]

OPPD has a very good reputation. Nebraska is unique with power in every power district in the state is some type of public power. Helps keep our electrical rates pretty cheap.