Omaha's Power Outage Troubles
Omaha's Power Outage Troubles
Better Action Needed.
As I write this, tens of thousands of households are without electricity/power due to a wind storm on July 31. I am in the dead center of the worst part of the outage. (Image below is from 10:45 PM August 3)
The power outage in Omaha has been a long time coming and is the result of several overlapping problems. Disasters have been building for a long time. The impact on the digital economy is severe as many now work at home and depend upon such energy.
First, between inflation, high property taxes, and sewer separation fees, the average homeowner does not have the means to cut down derelict trees, let alone trim them.
Second, Cox Cable is not public with their outage data. Apparently, they do not care what damage winds do because they rather everyone buy their high priced fiber internet which is buried. This data would create a motive to do something about the damage trees can cause if it was made public. People would demand Cox bury their internet cables. The importance of the internet in a digital economy is often underestimated while the value of the internet continues to grow.
Third, the Omaha City Forester (https://parks.cityofomaha.org/forestry/) needs to take a more active role in removing derelict trees instead of merely waiting for complaints. I believe this department is underfunded, underutilized, and largely unknown to the public. Also, the public should be informed, the silver maple tree is a high-maintenance tree and needs to regularly be pruned.
Fourth, OPPD needs to consider putting some power lines on higher poles or burying them. In addition, OPPD employees should have better access to the City Forrester to file complaints about derelict trees. The Forester should prioritize the OPPD complaints. Overall, OPPD must do more to protect the power grid.
Fifth, the City of Omaha should create a property tax rebate of up to $1,000 for those in need of removing a derelict tree. This incentive would encourage the removal of troublesome and dangerous trees.
You can contact Omaha City Council at:
https://citycouncil.cityofomaha.org/council-members
OPPD can be contacted at:
https://ww3.oppd.com/comments-requests/
Cox Cable can be contacted through link below:
You have my sympathy! I hope that you're able to get action to turn this situation around in Omaha.
Lincoln also has a number of damaged and downed trees and had thousands without power, although I believe that power has now been restored to most--if not all--homes in the city. We've been told that it will take months to clean up the debris and downed trees.