Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers announced Tuesday the dismissal of a lawsuit against the Omaha Public Power District.
The suit was filed by Hilgers in October over the public utility’s plan to change a north Omaha coal plant over to natural gas. After months of discussion, OPPD voted last week to again delay that change over.
Hilgers said the conversion from coal to natural gas conflicts with the core mission of public power providers in Nebraska as set forth by the Legislature, which requires the utility to prioritize affordability and reliability.
“We brought this lawsuit because public power providers should not achieve their self-imposed environmental goals by raising prices for Nebraska consumers,” Hilgers said in a press release Tuesday. “After last week’s vote, OPPD’s plans for the North Omaha Station now align with their twin mandates of affordability and reliability in delivering electricity to Nebraskans.”
OPPD converted part of the plant to natural gas in 2016 and had originally planned to stop burning coal at the plant altogether by 2023, but it later pushed that deadline to 2026.
The utility’s board of directors voted Thursday to again delay decommissioning the North Omaha Station’s coal-fired units despite previous pledges and public health concerns. The public utility cites a “new energy reality” driving its decision.
OPPD President Javier Fernandez shared a statement ahead of the board meeting, acknowledging a range of concerns raised by the public.
“I understand how personal these concerns are,” Fernandez said, “and they weigh on me. I recognize that some of our decisions have caused frustration and disappointment, and I take that seriously.”
Since 2019, OPPD’s winter energy peak has grown by 473 megawatts and summer peak by 544 megawatts — the equivalent of adding the electric grids of Grand Island and Hastings, combined.
At the same time, the utility said new generation takes longer to build, and required regional reserve margins are increasing.
As the timeline drags on, North Omaha community members and environmental health researchers are sounding the alarm on the plant’s health impacts and alleging the utility has failed to mitigate risks.