Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
I mentioned that we have we have some news regarding
potentially a brighter future for the OPPD Board, and we're
joined for a few minutes here this morning by former
Nebraska State Senator Jim Smith. Jim, good morning, Good.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Morning Gary, and good morning Jim. That's a very kind introduction.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
Well, so unveil the unveil the good news here.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Absolutely well. As you pointed out, energy supply is absolutely
critical to Nebraska's future, in Omaha's future, and today I'm
announcing my campaign for OPPD Board District three.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Excellent for those not familiar, former Senator Smith is not
only a very smart guy, but conservative and you have
some of the same concerns, Jim, that Rosie and I
have have delineated over the past few years about the
coming huge demand and the potential lack of capacity.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
Absolutely, and something maybe your listeners don't realize. As I
started out with thirty years in the electric utility operations
business and I retired from OPBD prior to going into
Nebraska's legislature. You know, Omaha leads the state's economy and
Omaha's success is absolutely tied to OPBD and the decisions
(01:26):
the utility makes on its energy future.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
Well, Mary, Well, go ahead, Jim please, ye, I'm sorry
for interrupting.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
Go no. Well absolutely, well, you know, you know, to
keep up with the growth opportunities and energy demand, we
must have dispatchable thermal energy production and we need to
get back to the core principles of public power, which
is around affordability, reliability, and accountability of leadership. So that's
why I'm running.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
Well.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
Mary Spurgeon is the current member of the OPBD board
from District three. She she was in public education for
thirty two years as a music teacher. So we have
a music teacher making decisions about a multi billion dollar
industry and a multi billion dollar public service entity that
(02:15):
provides power. As you look at the composition of the board, Jim,
I presume this was one of the reasons you were
compelled to run, because there is an alarming lack of
expertise and energy on this OPBD board.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
Well, that's true, and you to go back in past years.
Whenever I started out my career at OBPD, we had
a top tier board of directors that came from all
walks up the political spectrum, but they were business leaders
and they understood the value of having a strong energy future.
(02:51):
And the need for energy reliability, and the majority of
this board today just do not understand that they are
driven by ideology.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
And she's one of them. She says, I'm about environmental stewardship,
which means she's a green energy person, which means she
doesn't believe in any carbon emissions. We need to be
at zero carbon emissions, failing, of course, to recognize we
don't have the capacity to make that happen. We are
and you know this, Jim, We've discussed this. We are
approximately three hundred megawatt hours short by twenty thirty three.
(03:25):
That's a lot of juice that we're going to need
that we don't have. What are we going to do
if Jim Smith was made emperor of OPBD today, what
would you do to mitigate that gap? Because it's only
eight years away.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
Absolutely, and again I believe that renewable development is likely
on the decline due to new federal policies. But right now,
for Omaha and the thirteen counties on the eastern part
of the state, we need to focus on dispatchable thermal energy,
and that's not the intermittent energy that is provided by renewables.
(04:03):
We have to stop any further early retirement of dispatchable
generation as a starting point, and we need to put
ourselves on a path to make certain we have the
dispatchable load necessary to satisfy the growth of the thirteen
counties on the eastern part of the state. And once again,
(04:26):
intermittent power, which is mostly renewables, is not going to
cut it.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
And you're talking about I think you're talking about solar power,
you're talking about wind power. So when you say dispatchable
thermal energy, what does that mean? Most people think of
nuclear plants, you know, solar, natural gas, wind power. What
is dispatchable thermal energy?
Speaker 2 (04:49):
Absolutely, it's the type of power that is available whenever
you flip the lights, which guaranteed it's a clean coal.
It's natural gas in the form of combustion and turbine
or combined cycle power plants. It's nuclear, whether it's small
unit or large unit nuclear plants. That is dispatchable power.
(05:10):
It's they're guaranteed when that when that switch is flipped.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
I don't understand unless you're a climate alarmist, what there
is about what you just said that doesn't register. I mean,
if you look how long have we had a nuclear
navy for example, you know how many incidents there have
been zero.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
I don't get it, but you're absolutely, You're absolutely Rye,
Gary and Jim. It's it's a proven technology, it's a
proven power supply. We need to get back to focusing
on the future being nuclear, but for now there are
other forms of dispatchable generation that is perhaps more costly viable,
(05:57):
and so so. The affordability is another fact with OPPD.
The multiple rate increases over the last number of years
reflect catastrophic decisions being made by the board in the
way that the utility is operated.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
I'm sorry, go ahead.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
Reliability, I would say, I suspect too much cutting is occurring.
That's affecting system reliability, maintenance of the line system, vegetation management,
those types of things. And then the accountability is a
miss as well. Too many big decisions are being cloaked
(06:35):
in consent votes, which is lacking of transparency. So I
would say, going back, if we can fix the affordability,
the reliability, and the accountability, we're going to have a
great utility.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
Again, one of the issues that we've also documented here
is that when it comes to election day, this is
the kind of office that doesn't get a lot of attention.
It's not a big deal. There aren't a lot of
on air ads and campaigns and stuff, and people often
see names on air though I don't know, I guess
I'll vote for Hammer. How do you manage to navigate
(07:09):
that in District three?
Speaker 2 (07:11):
I think part of this campaign is around education. I
believe that the majority of shareholders of OBBD, and the
shareholders are the right payers. I think the majority feel
something is wrong. They see that in the length of
time for restoration from outages, they see it with the
(07:34):
discussion of availability for a new demand. They sense something
is wrong. And I believe part of this campaign is
going to be around education, education of what is wrong
and how are we going to get this back on tracks.
So probably a fair amount of money is going to
be spent in this campaign against my message, but I
(07:56):
believe also there will be plenty of support for my message.
And so yeah, we need to get out there and
we need to do a good job of educating U
the shareholders of OPPD.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
Indeed, Jim, thanks for the time and let's stay in touch.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
I appreciate it very much. Jim Smith here, OK, you
have ab morning news
I mentioned that we have we have some news regarding
potentially a brighter future for the OPPD Board, and we're
joined for a few minutes here this morning by former
Nebraska State Senator Jim Smith. Jim, good morning, Good.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Morning Gary, and good morning Jim. That's a very kind introduction.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
Well, so unveil the unveil the good news here.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Absolutely well. As you pointed out, energy supply is absolutely
critical to Nebraska's future, in Omaha's future, and today I'm
announcing my campaign for OPPD Board District three.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Excellent for those not familiar, former Senator Smith is not
only a very smart guy, but conservative and you have
some of the same concerns, Jim, that Rosie and I
have have delineated over the past few years about the
coming huge demand and the potential lack of capacity.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
Absolutely, and something maybe your listeners don't realize. As I
started out with thirty years in the electric utility operations
business and I retired from OPBD prior to going into
Nebraska's legislature. You know, Omaha leads the state's economy and
Omaha's success is absolutely tied to OPBD and the decisions
(01:26):
the utility makes on its energy future.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
Well, Mary, Well, go ahead, Jim please, ye, I'm sorry
for interrupting.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
Go no. Well absolutely, well, you know, you know, to
keep up with the growth opportunities and energy demand, we
must have dispatchable thermal energy production and we need to
get back to the core principles of public power, which
is around affordability, reliability, and accountability of leadership. So that's
why I'm running.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
Well.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
Mary Spurgeon is the current member of the OPBD board
from District three. She she was in public education for
thirty two years as a music teacher. So we have
a music teacher making decisions about a multi billion dollar
industry and a multi billion dollar public service entity that
(02:15):
provides power. As you look at the composition of the board, Jim,
I presume this was one of the reasons you were
compelled to run, because there is an alarming lack of
expertise and energy on this OPBD board.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
Well, that's true, and you to go back in past years.
Whenever I started out my career at OBPD, we had
a top tier board of directors that came from all
walks up the political spectrum, but they were business leaders
and they understood the value of having a strong energy future.
(02:51):
And the need for energy reliability, and the majority of
this board today just do not understand that they are
driven by ideology.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
And she's one of them. She says, I'm about environmental stewardship,
which means she's a green energy person, which means she
doesn't believe in any carbon emissions. We need to be
at zero carbon emissions, failing, of course, to recognize we
don't have the capacity to make that happen. We are
and you know this, Jim, We've discussed this. We are
approximately three hundred megawatt hours short by twenty thirty three.
(03:25):
That's a lot of juice that we're going to need
that we don't have. What are we going to do
if Jim Smith was made emperor of OPBD today, what
would you do to mitigate that gap? Because it's only
eight years away.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
Absolutely, and again I believe that renewable development is likely
on the decline due to new federal policies. But right now,
for Omaha and the thirteen counties on the eastern part
of the state, we need to focus on dispatchable thermal energy,
and that's not the intermittent energy that is provided by renewables.
(04:03):
We have to stop any further early retirement of dispatchable
generation as a starting point, and we need to put
ourselves on a path to make certain we have the
dispatchable load necessary to satisfy the growth of the thirteen
counties on the eastern part of the state. And once again,
(04:26):
intermittent power, which is mostly renewables, is not going to
cut it.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
And you're talking about I think you're talking about solar power,
you're talking about wind power. So when you say dispatchable
thermal energy, what does that mean? Most people think of
nuclear plants, you know, solar, natural gas, wind power. What
is dispatchable thermal energy?
Speaker 2 (04:49):
Absolutely, it's the type of power that is available whenever
you flip the lights, which guaranteed it's a clean coal.
It's natural gas in the form of combustion and turbine
or combined cycle power plants. It's nuclear, whether it's small
unit or large unit nuclear plants. That is dispatchable power.
(05:10):
It's they're guaranteed when that when that switch is flipped.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
I don't understand unless you're a climate alarmist, what there
is about what you just said that doesn't register. I mean,
if you look how long have we had a nuclear
navy for example, you know how many incidents there have
been zero.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
I don't get it, but you're absolutely, You're absolutely Rye,
Gary and Jim. It's it's a proven technology, it's a
proven power supply. We need to get back to focusing
on the future being nuclear, but for now there are
other forms of dispatchable generation that is perhaps more costly viable,
(05:57):
and so so. The affordability is another fact with OPPD.
The multiple rate increases over the last number of years
reflect catastrophic decisions being made by the board in the
way that the utility is operated.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
I'm sorry, go ahead.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
Reliability, I would say, I suspect too much cutting is occurring.
That's affecting system reliability, maintenance of the line system, vegetation management,
those types of things. And then the accountability is a
miss as well. Too many big decisions are being cloaked
(06:35):
in consent votes, which is lacking of transparency. So I
would say, going back, if we can fix the affordability,
the reliability, and the accountability, we're going to have a
great utility.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
Again, one of the issues that we've also documented here
is that when it comes to election day, this is
the kind of office that doesn't get a lot of attention.
It's not a big deal. There aren't a lot of
on air ads and campaigns and stuff, and people often
see names on air though I don't know, I guess
I'll vote for Hammer. How do you manage to navigate
(07:09):
that in District three?
Speaker 2 (07:11):
I think part of this campaign is around education. I
believe that the majority of shareholders of OBBD, and the
shareholders are the right payers. I think the majority feel
something is wrong. They see that in the length of
time for restoration from outages, they see it with the
(07:34):
discussion of availability for a new demand. They sense something
is wrong. And I believe part of this campaign is
going to be around education, education of what is wrong
and how are we going to get this back on tracks.
So probably a fair amount of money is going to
be spent in this campaign against my message, but I
(07:56):
believe also there will be plenty of support for my message.
And so yeah, we need to get out there and
we need to do a good job of educating U
the shareholders of OPPD.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
Indeed, Jim, thanks for the time and let's stay in touch.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
I appreciate it very much. Jim Smith here, OK, you
have ab morning news
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