Denied OPPD surge claim shocks Fort Calhoun couple

FORT CALHOUN, Neb. (WOWT) — When March’s storm knocked out power to thousands of OPPD customers, the Browns have a reason to remember the date and time.

“There was a big boom, and the power just stopped,” OPPD customer Rennae Brown said.

When the electricity came back on days later, their furnace didn’t, because the motor failed.

So, the Browns field a surge protection warranty claim with OPPD after Rennae read, “furnaces covered.”

“The next day after I told them it was on the website, guess what? It disappeared,” Brown said.

Standing in front of the electrician’s training board, the manager of surge products said OPPD stopped covering HVAC or furnaces two years ago.

“The HVAC references were removed, that should have also been removed from the website itself, it was an oversight and once we became aware of that that’s when we made the change,” OPPD Surge Products Manager Michael Trautman said.

In Rennae’s case, however, it wouldn’t have mattered, because an OPPD vendor electrician took pictures verifying that the cable and phone line protector worked.

The electrician’s photos show the same for all electrical surge arrestors, because the red lights were on.

“If the lights are working, then it’s in good working order and it would have been something else that caused damage to your furnace,” Trautman said.

So, Rennae’s $2,300 furnace damage claim was denied.

“So, what killed my furnace that working fine on the morning of, and it was checked out on January 22nd and it passed with flying colors,” Rennae said.

“I can’t tell you specifically what caused it all I can tell you is that it wasn’t through the surge input devices,” Trautman said.

Rennae questions, why did the OPPD vendor electrician take a working arrestor out of her basement?

Part of the confusion in the case is because the arrestor was removed, not because it failed, but because it was due to be changed with a new one.

The Browns still have surge protection with an up-to-date arrestor installed behind their meter, and OPPD offered the couple $500.

“It’s kind of a customer service policy we have that was added after original installation and development of the program,” Trautman said.

However, the Browns said they declined to make a point.

“How many people have this surge protector thinking all of their things are cover?” Rennae said.

The total number of residential customers with Surge Guard protection is 23,475.

In 2024, OPPD paid 52 claims totaling $43,346, approximately $833 per claim.

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