Omaha Public Power District crew deploying on Saturday to Charleston, West Virginia. Photo: Omaha Public Power District
(Omaha, NE) -- Omaha Public Power District crews are heading to Charleston, West Virginia, to help with power restoration the next several days after Hurricane Helene ripped through the southeast and eastern U.S. OPPD joins several other utilities in Nebraska assisting after storm damage. At least 4.7 million power outages have been reported in the aftermath of Helene.
“Our employees were eager to help. Some of the Line Techs called me earlier in the week, asking when and where we were going,” said Eli Schiessler, OPPD Transmission & Distribution center manager. “The work is extremely tough, but restoring power and helping out communities in need is why many of them chose this line of work.”
The utility says this is the third time this year OPPD has deployed to provide mutual aid to fellow utilities in need. Crews supported Evergy in the Kansas City area in January, as well as MidAmerican Energy in northern Iowa and ComEd in southern Illinois after powerful winds caused extensive damage to trees and power lines in mid-July.
OPPD says three utilities returned the favor, coming to OPPD’s aid when more than 220,000 customers lost power in the historic July 31st storm.