OPPD to install 400,000 smart meters and rollout new interactive map

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) — OPPD is rolling out two new services for its customers: smart meters and a new interactive outage map.

In early September, OPPD will begin installing the first of 400,000 new smart meters in homes and businesses across Omaha. The meters will be able to report outages to OPPD as soon as they happen, potentially before you even notice.

“No more of — you have to call in or you have to check the map. All of those things the meter does for you,” explained Shannon Ankeny, OPPD External Communication Manager.

Paired with that, they’ll be launching a new interactive outage map on the My OPPD website.

“Right now, it’s more like a heat map, and what it will turn to is like a color map. So it’s going to show you that there’s 50 outages, or that there’s multiple outages. At the top, it’s going to show you how many meters are out, how many customers that impacts, and how many still have power,” said Ankeny.

The map will have a search function that allows customers to check an outage at their home, even if they aren’t there, but Ankeny says the map itself will not have away specific customer’s locations.

“So then you can see the cluster, showing that there’s multiple outages here and these different color codes, but they’re never going to be on top of an address so you still have the security and privacy,” assured Ankeny.

The two services are designed to work hand in hand. The meters will send updates back to OPPD and the map will update every fifteen minutes to keep you informed about outages, their causes, and estimated restoration times.

“We’re trying to help you have to do less and not have to think about as much. Just let us do that for you by updating you through whatever you subscribe to, and you just have to sit back and wait for the notification,” Ankeny said.

OPPD will be installing 10,000 meters to begin with across rural and urban areas, neighborhoods and commercial buildings. If you are getting one, you will be notified more than a month before installation.

It is important to note, if you do not have a smart meter, you will still need to report your outages. There will be a new self-service feature for that as part of the outage map rollout.

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