Latest / The KFAB Comment Line with Jean Stothert / New Orleans and OPPD Board Candidate

Transcript

New Orleans and OPPD Board Candidate · The KFAB Comment Line with Jean Stothert

0:00
Speaker 1: We've got a lot to catch up on, a lot
0:02
Speaker 1: to talk about, including runs of ice cream. I cannot
0:07
Speaker 1: believe this, there is runs of ice cream. But we'll
0:10
Speaker 1: talk about that later. But anyway, today we have Dave
0:13
Speaker 1: Bagley with us. Good morning, Good morning, and Dave is
0:17
Speaker 1: a candidate for OPPD. So we're going to talk about
0:19
Speaker 1: power again. We talked about it a couple times last week,
0:23
Speaker 1: but I think it is so important because obviously we
0:27
Speaker 1: rely on it, Dave, every single day. And what is
0:32
Speaker 1: so important in Nebraska is the way that we have
0:37
Speaker 1: the own that we are the only state that's one
0:40
Speaker 1: hundred percent publicly owned for electric utilities, and so OPPD
0:45
Speaker 1: serves nearly half of the state's population, about five thousand
0:48
Speaker 1: square miles thirteen counties. That's a big job. But how
0:52
Speaker 1: it is regulated because of that, it's all of the
0:56
Speaker 1: decisions are made by the elected board. And there are
1:00
Speaker 1: eight people, eight directors on that board, which is something
1:03
Speaker 1: you are running for now. They're elected to six year terms.
1:07
Speaker 1: It's nonpartisan according to geographic districts. But such a big job,
1:13
Speaker 1: about a three billion dollar budget. So let's talk about
1:16
Speaker 1: First of all, let's talk about Dave Bagley and tell
1:19
Speaker 1: everybody about who you are, what your background is. I
1:22
Speaker 1: know what it is, but I want you to tell
1:24
Speaker 1: people about it. And then we're going to talk about
1:26
Speaker 1: power because we have to rely on it and we
1:29
Speaker 1: need somebody in there. We need people on that board
1:32
Speaker 1: that are going to look out for us and make
1:34
Speaker 1: sure that we have a reliable power provided to us. So, Dave,
1:39
Speaker 1: tell us who you are.
1:40
Speaker 2: Well, I'm an Omaha native and I'm a proud graduate
1:44
Speaker 2: of Creighton Prep and Create University. So all my education
1:47
Speaker 2: has been from the Society of Jesus. I'm a lawyer.
1:52
Speaker 2: I elseo earned an MBA. My great grand well, my
1:57
Speaker 2: family's been here before statehood, and my great grandfather died
2:01
Speaker 2: on the job at Kutay Packing Plan and my dad
2:06
Speaker 2: and his brothers were in business here in Omaha. Like
2:09
Speaker 2: I said, I'm a lawyer, and that's really how I
2:11
Speaker 2: got interested in this job. And I am, really, without
2:17
Speaker 2: a question, the leading opponent in this state against wind
2:22
Speaker 2: and solar, and the reason why I'm against it is
2:26
Speaker 2: it's expensive and unreliable.
2:29
Speaker 3: The Chamber of.
2:31
Speaker 2: Commerce came out with this report and said that Nebraska
2:33
Speaker 2: needs four gigawatts, and they defaulted to renewables. But I
2:39
Speaker 2: put together a little chart I am working against and
2:42
Speaker 2: I could kill one point seven gigawatts by myself with litigation. Recently,
2:49
Speaker 2: OPPD abandoned York County a solar I mean I wasn't
2:53
Speaker 2: involved in litigation with that, but I mean people need
2:57
Speaker 2: to appreciate is that OPBD and NPPD have this net
3:02
Speaker 2: zero policy and that means adding more expensive and unreliable solar,
3:06
Speaker 2: which just increases rates for everyone and for no good reason.
3:11
Speaker 1: So this net zero strategy that they have adopted that
3:17
Speaker 1: they're supposed to reach by twenty fifty, what I mean,
3:20
Speaker 1: so what do you think about that? Is this something
3:22
Speaker 1: that we need to re examine and rethink because I
3:26
Speaker 1: know that definitely led to the closing of the North
3:30
Speaker 1: Omaha coal units. So what's your when you say we
3:33
Speaker 1: can't rely on wind and solar, Well, that's what are
3:37
Speaker 1: our options?
3:38
Speaker 4: Then?
3:38
Speaker 2: Well that's my number one priority to terminate oppd's SD
3:45
Speaker 2: seven for net zero, because like I said, it's expensive
3:51
Speaker 2: and unreliable, and the options are to add more of
3:56
Speaker 2: net gas. I mean OPPD just added two net gas
3:59
Speaker 2: plants about sixty acres for both of them, and to
4:03
Speaker 2: my knowledge there was no opposition, and as part of
4:07
Speaker 2: my litigation and also just meeting with people in Nebraska,
4:11
Speaker 2: we're in Nebraska, they do not want wind and solar,
4:15
Speaker 2: and for very good reason. I was just out to
4:19
Speaker 2: Butler County. Butler County unbelievably doesn't have any zoning and
4:23
Speaker 2: so there's a big solar project going in out there.
4:26
Speaker 2: And there was a community meeting there in David's City
4:29
Speaker 2: at the library, and these people picked up on it
4:32
Speaker 2: right away. I've been studying it for four or five years.
4:35
Speaker 2: But they said, Okay, we've got land here in Nebraska
4:38
Speaker 2: that's worth roughly ten thousand dollars an acre, that efficiently
4:41
Speaker 2: produces corn, and why would we convert that to solar?
4:48
Speaker 2: Which I mean, the physics of it is thirty percent.
4:52
Speaker 2: It's never going to be more than thirty percent efficient.
4:54
Speaker 2: And then on top of that, Nebraska, you know, we're
4:57
Speaker 2: so far north it's twenty two point nine percent. And
5:00
Speaker 2: then you know, obviously there's no there's no solar at night.
5:04
Speaker 2: So one of the things, well, I got into it.
5:08
Speaker 2: I always get into it with two of the directors,
5:12
Speaker 2: Moody and and Eric Williams, and they are religiously believing
5:18
Speaker 2: in net zero and they said, well, solar's the cheapest,
5:22
Speaker 2: and I said, well, no, it isn't you add in
5:24
Speaker 2: all the costs. And it's called green plating, because you've
5:27
Speaker 2: got to have reliable power when the sun goes down
5:31
Speaker 2: and the wind is blowing, and then you've got to
5:33
Speaker 2: build these transmission lines to you know, bring it into Omahan.
5:36
Speaker 2: They don't include those costs, and that's why it's so pernicious.
5:39
Speaker 3: It's so pernicious.
5:41
Speaker 2: And you know I was, you know, I have attended
5:46
Speaker 2: the board meetings every single month for four or five years.
5:49
Speaker 2: And you know they passed this recent increase of six
5:54
Speaker 2: point nine or six point three percent, and they're five
5:57
Speaker 2: to nine percent increases through twenty thirty, right, And I
6:02
Speaker 2: can tell you.
6:03
Speaker 1: It's not sustainable for many families and businesses.
6:06
Speaker 2: This board is completely the majority are completely indifferent as
6:11
Speaker 2: to what great pays will pay. I mean they will
6:15
Speaker 2: so their way of thinking, they will charge you any
6:20
Speaker 2: cost and bear any burdens so that they achieved their
6:23
Speaker 2: net zero fantasy.
6:25
Speaker 1: Well we are with David Bagley here, who was running
6:27
Speaker 1: for OPPD board. Well wait, I mentioned this in the beginning.
6:30
Speaker 1: I mean people want a reliable source of energy. And
6:34
Speaker 1: you know what a lot of people say, Well, Nebraska's
6:37
Speaker 1: so windy, why don't we have these wind farms like
6:39
Speaker 1: you see in Iowa. But to your point, they're very expensive,
6:45
Speaker 1: they break down a lot, and they're unreliable.
6:48
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I remember last year at the Berkshire meeting,
6:51
Speaker 2: greg Abel was asked and at that time he was
6:54
Speaker 2: CEO of Berkshire Hathy Energy.
6:56
Speaker 3: And he put it. I thought it was very interesting.
6:58
Speaker 2: He said, Uncle Sam told this to build these wind turbines,
7:01
Speaker 2: and now with this change in the administration, we're not
7:04
Speaker 2: going to be building them, Which goes to the fact that,
7:06
Speaker 2: I mean, people need to appreciate that these wind and
7:09
Speaker 2: solar projects, up until July of this year, get between
7:13
Speaker 2: thirty to fifty percent of their cost with free federal
7:17
Speaker 2: tax credit money, which just adds to our thirty eight
7:21
Speaker 2: trillion dollar debt. And thankfully President Trump has put an
7:24
Speaker 2: end to that. But I mean, I mean, who wouldn't
7:28
Speaker 2: want to be in a business where the federal government
7:30
Speaker 2: gives you thirty to fifty percent free money. It's astounding.
7:34
Speaker 1: Well, you know, the one thing that was brought up
7:36
Speaker 1: when we were talking about it last week, too. This
7:39
Speaker 1: is a board that two years ago voted to double
7:43
Speaker 1: its compensation. That does not go over well with many
7:46
Speaker 1: many people, and because they vote on their own salary.
7:50
Speaker 1: And also the question was Javier Fernandez is the president
7:55
Speaker 1: and CEO. They gave him in twenty twenty four a
7:58
Speaker 1: seventy two thousand dollars a year year increase. He gets
8:02
Speaker 1: his salary right now is eight hundred and fifty six
8:05
Speaker 1: thousand dollars a year. Tell me what you think about that?
8:08
Speaker 2: Well, I said public at the meeting, because I go
8:11
Speaker 2: to all of them, and I just said, you know,
8:12
Speaker 2: I have no problem with javier salary because it's got
8:15
Speaker 2: to be competitive for the size of the enterprise that
8:18
Speaker 2: he's running.
8:19
Speaker 5: It is.
8:19
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, I think it is.
8:20
Speaker 1: Yeah, okay.
8:21
Speaker 2: But the thing is, I mean director Craig Moody just
8:24
Speaker 2: praised Javier to the moon or to the stars, and
8:29
Speaker 2: that's because he's doing he's putting through this net zero policy.
8:33
Speaker 2: I mean, Javier is a very nice guy. I like him.
8:36
Speaker 2: He's very polished. He's a Yale grad, Yes he is.
8:39
Speaker 2: I know him well, and he's very very he's very good.
8:41
Speaker 1: Very soon.
8:43
Speaker 2: But I mean, if I can repeal this net zero policy.
8:46
Speaker 2: The question is is he going to enforce that because
8:50
Speaker 2: it is just it is so wrong. And the thing
8:54
Speaker 2: that really rubs me the wrong way. I mean, like
8:56
Speaker 2: I said, I educated by the Society of Jesus in Omaha,
9:01
Speaker 2: and I have concern for people at the lower end
9:03
Speaker 2: of the income scale.
9:05
Speaker 1: And you know, as you should as an elected if
9:07
Speaker 1: you are elected to a position, that should be your concern.
9:10
Speaker 1: You're representing the people.
9:12
Speaker 2: And if you're at the lower end of the income scale,
9:14
Speaker 2: I mean, electricity is a necessity. It's gonna it's it'll
9:18
Speaker 2: take a beer percent of your budget, and there is
9:21
Speaker 2: no need for this, this green plating, this wind and solar.
9:25
Speaker 2: But this current board, oh well, Mary Spurgeon, the incumbent,
9:30
Speaker 2: said well, it was at one meeting she said, well,
9:32
Speaker 2: I you know, you get in the level play payment program,
9:36
Speaker 2: you know, and and the increase won't hurt you so much.
9:38
Speaker 2: I couldn't believe it when she said it. I mean,
9:41
Speaker 2: it's the total number of what you're going to pay.
9:44
Speaker 2: And here's one thing I want to bring up, and
9:46
Speaker 2: I've told this board this. I mean, I've studied this,
9:49
Speaker 2: and I've got some economist reports from other states that
9:53
Speaker 2: have net zero Wisconsin, Minnesota and some others that I've read,
9:56
Speaker 2: and I've told the board about this, but they.
9:58
Speaker 3: Don't listen to me.
10:00
Speaker 2: And not only you know, rates will go through the roof,
10:03
Speaker 2: but it's also there's a strong likelihood of blackouts in
10:07
Speaker 2: the winter. And I was just telling you before the show.
10:11
Speaker 2: Here in Spain, there was a total blackout of over
10:14
Speaker 2: a day in April twenty twenty five, and and a
10:17
Speaker 2: lot of people died, and the people that were hit hardest.
10:20
Speaker 3: I mean, this was just a new report.
10:22
Speaker 1: Do they do they depend a lot on solar in Spain?
10:24
Speaker 2: Then oh yeah, okay, it's a huge it's over fifty percent,
10:29
Speaker 2: and and that you know, that was the cause that
10:32
Speaker 2: they're trying to rewrite the history. But ninety four people
10:36
Speaker 2: in the age bracket of sixty five to eighty four
10:38
Speaker 2: died during that blackout.
10:40
Speaker 1: Holy cown. Well, you know, I go back and I
10:42
Speaker 1: think about our storm in twenty twenty three. I was mayor.
10:45
Speaker 1: Then fifty percent of opd's customers were out of power
10:49
Speaker 1: for some period of time, some for a really long time.
10:53
Speaker 1: So we were bringing in we with our workers that
10:55
Speaker 1: we had here alignment, we were bringing in a lot
10:58
Speaker 1: of mutual aid. I mean, do you think that rather
11:02
Speaker 1: than spend money on things like they are spending money
11:05
Speaker 1: on now, that we should hire more alignment, more employees.
11:09
Speaker 1: Is that the direction that you think we should be going.
11:11
Speaker 2: Well, that's interesting. You should mention that because at some
11:14
Speaker 2: point I had made a Foya state foyer request to
11:17
Speaker 2: the board and I found out what percentage of their
11:20
Speaker 2: budget they were spending on vegetation management, tree trimming, and
11:25
Speaker 2: it was a low percentage, and after that incident, they
11:28
Speaker 2: doubled it. And maybe you know, my watchdog capacity of
11:34
Speaker 2: the board had some role, but I mean, and I
11:36
Speaker 2: remember saying to the board, you were obsessed and focused
11:40
Speaker 2: entirely on this net zero. You need to concentrate on
11:44
Speaker 2: hardening the grid, doing better vegetation management instead of you know,
11:49
Speaker 2: wasting all this money. Oh, speaking of wasting money, they
11:54
Speaker 2: got this report from a company called E three out
11:57
Speaker 2: of San Francisco down on Market Street, and they spent
12:00
Speaker 2: over a million bucks on it, and it was this
12:04
Speaker 2: crazy justification for net zero. And I remember I found
12:08
Speaker 2: it in the report that they were this company was
12:12
Speaker 2: recommend they spent a million bucks on it. You know,
12:16
Speaker 2: twenty nine billion in future spending for net zero. Well,
12:20
Speaker 2: Javier tried to distance himself from that, but I mean
12:24
Speaker 2: the facts are all. You know, particularly in Europe but
12:27
Speaker 2: also in the United States, an incredible sum of money
12:31
Speaker 2: needs to be spent on capital for solar and win
12:35
Speaker 2: and you know Wall Street loves that love because that
12:38
Speaker 2: means more debt, more bonds issued, the new you know
12:42
Speaker 2: stocks that you know they can be traded. And there
12:46
Speaker 2: is absolutely no reason, I mean to think that little
12:48
Speaker 2: OPPD can somehow affect the temperature of the planet in
12:52
Speaker 2: the year two thy one hundred is a fabulous conceit.
12:56
Speaker 2: But you know the current board, you know, they're all
13:00
Speaker 2: for it. They think they're going to save the planet
13:02
Speaker 2: in the year twenty one, and I think all kfab
13:06
Speaker 2: listeners will probably be dead by then, But we got
13:09
Speaker 2: to spend billions before then.
13:11
Speaker 1: I'll definitely be pushing daisies by then. But Dave Bagley
13:14
Speaker 1: is with us here today. So Dave, what it is
13:17
Speaker 1: estimated that in the next ten years this area OPPD
13:21
Speaker 1: will need to double its production of power. So then
13:25
Speaker 1: what are our options? I mean, typically we have gas,
13:30
Speaker 1: we have natural or liquid natural gas, We have coal,
13:34
Speaker 1: we have nuclear let's talk about what options then we have.
13:38
Speaker 2: I I you know, there's a long lead time for nuclear,
13:41
Speaker 2: but I would say OPPD needs to get on the
13:44
Speaker 2: stick and get going on it. There's that giant space
13:48
Speaker 2: up there at Fort Calhoun and build a great, big
13:51
Speaker 2: nuclear plant because the transmission lines are there already, and
13:54
Speaker 2: you know, and that can come right into Omaha.
13:56
Speaker 1: And that was permanently shut down in October of twenty
13:59
Speaker 1: six sixteen, and they said due to economic factors and
14:03
Speaker 1: high operation costs.
14:04
Speaker 2: You know, that's been a giant mystery. I mean the
14:07
Speaker 2: World Herald. I mean, it's all been very hush hush.
14:11
Speaker 2: Who knows what went on there. But I mean the
14:15
Speaker 2: Omaha Public Power District needs a big nuke plant for reliable,
14:19
Speaker 2: stable power.
14:20
Speaker 3: But in the interim, they need to get going and
14:22
Speaker 3: build these more.
14:25
Speaker 2: Natural gas plants because I'm telling you, you know, the
14:28
Speaker 2: litigation I'm gonna personally stop a lot of these solar
14:31
Speaker 2: and wind projects and there's no opposition in that gas plants.
14:36
Speaker 2: I mean, they need to start building them.
14:38
Speaker 1: So let's talk about the nuclear options, because that seems
14:41
Speaker 1: like it's a hot item right now. But there's these
14:44
Speaker 1: many nuclear reactors like micro reactors. They're small modular reactors.
14:51
Speaker 1: And then there's the big full scale plants. All of
14:54
Speaker 1: those what I have read about them, though, they're gonna
14:58
Speaker 1: take years to to build and get going. But you're
15:03
Speaker 1: saying we should, we should get going.
15:04
Speaker 2: Yeah, And you know, there they're different companies. I mean,
15:09
Speaker 2: there's a big many, many public companies are in that space,
15:14
Speaker 2: and and they want to get going. And of course
15:16
Speaker 2: they want. I saw something where the Japanese they built
15:20
Speaker 2: something in short order and under budget. I mean, there's
15:24
Speaker 2: a way to do this and it doesn't need to
15:27
Speaker 2: be over budget. And and there's those small nuclear actors,
15:32
Speaker 2: and you know that's another thing.
15:33
Speaker 3: You know, I'm running for the seat and.
15:34
Speaker 2: Starper County off of Air Force Base is a big
15:37
Speaker 2: power user. I'm assuming they're a customer. They need reliable power.
15:41
Speaker 2: They you know, if they're running bombers out off it.
15:45
Speaker 2: You know, they say, oh, can't run our computers because
15:48
Speaker 2: the wind isn't blown today.
15:50
Speaker 3: You know, that's crazy, that's crazy.
15:52
Speaker 1: Absolutely. And then talk a bit about the impact of
15:55
Speaker 1: the data centers. A lot of people bring those up.
15:57
Speaker 1: They're huge, they're important, though, I mean, they aren't a
16:01
Speaker 1: bad thing because it really puts Nebraska at a competitive
16:04
Speaker 1: advantage that they are putting the effort into building these
16:08
Speaker 1: big data centers. They're not responsible for the shortage of
16:13
Speaker 1: our generation capacity or price increases, though it should be
16:17
Speaker 1: back on the board, don't you think.
16:19
Speaker 2: Well, I am actually a supporter of the data centers
16:22
Speaker 2: because I strongly believe that severe weather coverage be number
16:26
Speaker 2: one in that space with AI and data centers. And
16:30
Speaker 2: I was talking to Senator Ricketts. He did a good
16:34
Speaker 2: job building out those data centers out there on Highway
16:37
Speaker 2: three seventy.
16:39
Speaker 3: And it's important.
16:43
Speaker 2: Well, the other at one meeting, Director Eric Williams said, well,
16:48
Speaker 2: maybe we need a separate rate class for data centers,
16:51
Speaker 2: and I got up. I said, well, you know, you
16:52
Speaker 2: should have been doing that a long time ago. I mean,
16:55
Speaker 2: the point is that the residential industrial commercial customers should
16:59
Speaker 2: not be subsidizing this data centers on their rates. I mean,
17:03
Speaker 2: they should fully pay for what they're getting. And you
17:06
Speaker 2: know they need twenty four to seven reliable power. You
17:09
Speaker 2: know that can be figured out. But I was astounded
17:13
Speaker 2: to learn that that OPPD that did not have a
17:16
Speaker 2: separate rate class for data centers.
17:19
Speaker 1: But it's up to but the board itself is responsible
17:23
Speaker 1: for budget decisions, and they are responsible for the rate
17:26
Speaker 1: deals created for the data centers.
17:28
Speaker 2: Correct, right, And you know, more incompetence by the current board.
17:33
Speaker 2: And again this current board, the majority have no concern
17:39
Speaker 2: over what customer owners pay. I mean, they've got their
17:43
Speaker 2: net zero fantasy, their religious believers in it, and you
17:47
Speaker 2: know whatever, you you know, we have to pay. That's
17:50
Speaker 2: just too bad.
17:50
Speaker 3: And it's really one thing.
17:54
Speaker 2: I've told the board a number of times is I
17:57
Speaker 2: got into it last meeting with Director Williams. He says,
17:59
Speaker 2: totally the lowest and when does the lowest cost? I said, well,
18:02
Speaker 2: why are rates so much higher in Europe? And I
18:05
Speaker 2: looked up for southern Spain. It's a hot climate. They
18:08
Speaker 2: don't have the air conditioning penetration like we do in Nebraska.
18:12
Speaker 2: And they paid double and the reason why they paid
18:15
Speaker 2: double was because they got too much solar. We don't
18:18
Speaker 2: need that, We need cheap, reliable power. And that's another thing.
18:21
Speaker 2: I mean, you know, public power should be an advantage
18:24
Speaker 2: for Nebraska, not just on data centers, but across the board,
18:27
Speaker 2: because you know, they don't have a profit motive. They
18:30
Speaker 2: can issue bonds at the lowest rate. They're double a
18:34
Speaker 2: tax free. But it's just that that advantage has been squandered.
18:39
Speaker 1: All right, Dave Bagley is, well, that's any last words
18:42
Speaker 1: you want to say, what what? What are the things?
18:44
Speaker 1: Just give me the top three things that you want
18:47
Speaker 1: to achieve then no ne zero.
18:50
Speaker 3: I have a great jingle that'll be running here on KVB.
18:53
Speaker 3: Maybe it is run before you know.
18:57
Speaker 2: I want to be accountable to to customer owners, you know,
19:02
Speaker 2: keep our low energy.
19:04
Speaker 3: And I'm also opposed to.
19:11
Speaker 2: You know, just the the the liberal way that that
19:15
Speaker 2: board has been wrong.
19:16
Speaker 3: It's not good.
19:17
Speaker 1: Well, Dave Bagley, thank you for coming in today. I
19:20
Speaker 1: really appreciate it. It's always good to talk to you.
19:22
Speaker 1: And good luck with your campaign.
19:24
Speaker 3: Thank you all right.
19:25
Speaker 1: The week from today is the primary day.
19:28
Speaker 3: Vote for DDB for OPPD.
19:31
Speaker 1: Thank you so much for being with us today. This
19:33
Speaker 1: is David Beagley, Dave Bagley, who's running for OPPD board.
19:37
Speaker 1: And I think power is just I mean, it's so important.
19:40
Speaker 1: People are fascinated when we start talking about it here.
19:42
Speaker 1: So thank you very much for being on today.
19:44
Speaker 3: Very much.
19:44
Speaker 1: Yeah you bet.
19:45
Speaker 6: Jean Stouthard back from New Orleans.
19:48
Speaker 1: And listening to the Eagles, thank you for playing that.
19:53
Speaker 1: That was their encore. So I Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday
19:57
Speaker 1: and Monday was in New Orleans at the New Orleans
20:01
Speaker 1: Jazz and Heritage Festival, which was pretty amazing. It's first
20:04
Speaker 1: time I've ever been there. My husband started going in
20:07
Speaker 1: nineteen seventy eight because he did his internship down at
20:09
Speaker 1: two Lane, so he's real familiar with the Jazz festival.
20:12
Speaker 1: He must have been there probably twenty times or so.
20:15
Speaker 1: But picture this. It's held on a big racetrack. There
20:19
Speaker 1: are twelve different stages where you can hear music that
20:23
Speaker 1: continuously play all day. There's blues, there's gospel, there's the mainliner.
20:27
Speaker 1: Stevie Nicks was there there. The big event on Saturday
20:31
Speaker 1: were the Eagles and they played from four forty five
20:36
Speaker 1: until seven pm. It was amazing. I mean they sang
20:39
Speaker 1: all their best songs and everything. So there was it
20:42
Speaker 1: was so many people though Peyton there was estimated about
20:45
Speaker 1: one hundred and fifty thousand people on this racetrack to
20:50
Speaker 1: see the Eagles. No place to sit, I mean you
20:53
Speaker 1: buy chairs at Walgreens and then you just find a
20:55
Speaker 1: place to sit. And then when the festival's over, you
20:58
Speaker 1: just walk away and leave your chairs there. It's not
21:00
Speaker 1: like you're going to bring them home. But it was.
21:02
Speaker 1: It was really good and the Eagles were really really
21:04
Speaker 1: good too, and it was a lot of fun. There
21:07
Speaker 1: were I got to tell you, lots of food all over,
21:09
Speaker 1: you know, everywhere, so great food.
21:11
Speaker 5: I asked you what your favorite song was from this weekend,
21:14
Speaker 5: and you gave me the Eagles Hotel California, that was
21:16
Speaker 5: their encore. What about food? You just brought up food.
21:19
Speaker 5: What was your favorite plate of food that you had?
21:21
Speaker 1: Well, it had to be the Shrimp Pole Boys. You know,
21:24
Speaker 1: they're so good gumbo. There there was a lot of
21:28
Speaker 1: alcohol being consumed though. There was a lot of inebriated people,
21:32
Speaker 1: and there was the distinct aroma of weed. I know
21:36
Speaker 1: that that that an event like that. But you know
21:39
Speaker 1: what I was surprised at is the lack of police
21:43
Speaker 1: that I have. I just expected police to be everywhere.
21:47
Speaker 1: I did talk to one of the officers and he said,
21:49
Speaker 1: he goes man, we're really short on police officers, which
21:52
Speaker 1: I'm thinking, well, that sounds familiar. So you did see
21:55
Speaker 1: National Guard. You saw National Guard and we stayed, you know,
21:59
Speaker 1: right down in the French Quarter and walking up and
22:02
Speaker 1: down Bourbon Street at about eleven thirty at night. I
22:04
Speaker 1: mean there were National Guard all around, just like you
22:06
Speaker 1: know you've seen in many other cities. But let me
22:09
Speaker 1: tell you a little story if I can. There is
22:12
Speaker 1: no easy way to get from Omaha to New Orleans
22:15
Speaker 1: by plane. You either got to go through Denver, you
22:18
Speaker 1: got to go through Dallas, you got to go through
22:21
Speaker 1: Nashville or some strange way. So it takes practically all
22:25
Speaker 1: day yesterday to get back home. Now, what are the
22:28
Speaker 1: two things you hate the most when you get on
22:30
Speaker 1: an airplane? Number One, sitting by the crying baby.
22:35
Speaker 6: Yes, that was what I was going to say.
22:36
Speaker 1: Number Two, sitting by someone who is sick. Oh yeah,
22:40
Speaker 1: guess who was the sick one? My husband Kevin.
22:44
Speaker 6: Yuh.
22:44
Speaker 1: He woke up yesterday morning like I'm all stopped up.
22:47
Speaker 1: So we get on the plane and that poor man
22:50
Speaker 1: must have coughed and sneezed continuously for hours. I bet
22:54
Speaker 1: everybody in the plane was like, Oh, get away from
22:57
Speaker 1: these people. The poor guy. There was nothing new could do.
23:00
Speaker 1: Somebody did turn around and say don't you have a mask? Well,
23:03
Speaker 1: I mean we were going to a jazz festival in
23:06
Speaker 1: New Orleans, where it's always hot and steamy. We weren't
23:08
Speaker 1: anticipating needing a mask or that he would be so sick.
23:13
Speaker 1: But anyway, we finally got home last evening and he's
23:17
Speaker 1: probably still in bed sleeping right now. He's not feeling
23:20
Speaker 1: too good. But anyway, I want to say thank you
23:22
Speaker 1: to Chip Maxwell for filling into me for me. Appreciate that.
23:27
Speaker 1: Ola como stas it is Sinko demayo today. You know,
23:33
Speaker 1: when I was running for reelection in twenty twenty one,
23:36
Speaker 1: I had a satellite campaign office down on South twenty
23:40
Speaker 1: fourth Street. I must have gained at least ten pounds
23:43
Speaker 1: during that time. I don't believe it. Oh my god,
23:45
Speaker 1: I don't believe. The food was so good. So Taco Tuesday,
23:48
Speaker 1: it's it's it's the main event today. So that is great.
23:53
Speaker 1: But happy Sinko demio to everyone, and thank you very
23:57
Speaker 1: much for Chip. Chip sent me a text yesterday and
24:00
Speaker 1: he said one of the callers yesterday was calling about
24:05
Speaker 1: the sewer separation project again and the actual rate increases.
24:10
Speaker 1: I do have a bit of information. I'm not sure
24:14
Speaker 1: exactly what the call was, but I will tell people
24:17
Speaker 1: again that the permit end date right now, permit endate
24:21
Speaker 1: for the sewer project that we have has been extended twice.
24:25
Speaker 1: Right now it should be complete and twenty thirty seven. Now,
24:30
Speaker 1: what I did tell people on the air before, and
24:33
Speaker 1: I will say it again, there was projected in the
24:37
Speaker 1: very beginning that there was going to be rate increases
24:41
Speaker 1: of approximately nine percent a year to pay for this
24:45
Speaker 1: two billion dollar project. And you know, it comes on
24:49
Speaker 1: your mud bill. It's just to pass through with mud
24:52
Speaker 1: and it comes to the city to pay for the
24:55
Speaker 1: sewer separation project. Now they have found more and more
25:00
Speaker 1: technology as the time goes on. From when we started
25:04
Speaker 1: the big tunnel that was supposed to be built at
25:06
Speaker 1: the end of the project, which was going to be
25:08
Speaker 1: along the river, it was kind of a holding area
25:12
Speaker 1: that was about a third of the cost of the
25:14
Speaker 1: entire project. We don't need to do that now because
25:17
Speaker 1: of newer technology. So that projected increase about nine percent
25:22
Speaker 1: of year, which I was very worried about. Now, the
25:27
Speaker 1: last ordinance that was approved by the city council is
25:30
Speaker 1: less than three percent increase a year, So there will
25:34
Speaker 1: still be a rate increase because of the sewer separation project,
25:39
Speaker 1: which is tagged onto your mud bill. But now it
25:42
Speaker 1: is less than three percent a year, and originally it
25:45
Speaker 1: was nine. So anyway, the current rates of this less
25:49
Speaker 1: than three percent a year, they are effective through twenty
25:52
Speaker 1: twenty eight and then they will reevaluate what they need
25:55
Speaker 1: as far as what they need to do the rate increases,
25:58
Speaker 1: and it could be that they don't to do continue
26:01
Speaker 1: to do rate increases. So that's the information I wanted
26:04
Speaker 1: to share with you, the chips that he didn't have
26:07
Speaker 1: right at the tip of his tongue. So I'm happy
26:09
Speaker 1: to share that with you today.
26:11
Speaker 5: The question that came from a caller was pretty similar.
26:14
Speaker 5: You answered most of it. So we're somewhere between fifteen
26:18
Speaker 5: and twenty years into this, yes, and there's another ten
26:22
Speaker 5: ish to go pending normal construction times, assuming there's no
26:27
Speaker 5: delays or anything of that nature.
26:29
Speaker 1: Well, you know, and like I said, it's a very
26:32
Speaker 1: complicated project. We all know what it is that our
26:36
Speaker 1: sanitary sewer and our stormwater sewer in the older parts
26:39
Speaker 1: of the city were combined, and so they were fine
26:42
Speaker 1: on a regular basis, but when there was a heavy
26:45
Speaker 1: rain or particularly a flood, all of this raw sewage
26:48
Speaker 1: was being dumped into the Missouri River, which is unacceptable.
26:52
Speaker 1: It came from the Clean Water Act that was actually
26:55
Speaker 1: passed in the seventies and the language is still there
26:59
Speaker 1: and it says all public waterways must be swimmable and fishable.
27:04
Speaker 1: That's what it says. And so with this massive amount
27:07
Speaker 1: of raw sewage an E. Coli in the Missouri River,
27:10
Speaker 1: that was unacceptable. It didn't abide by the Clean Water Act.
27:15
Speaker 1: And just think of those folks that were downstream from us.
27:18
Speaker 1: So now we have to separate the sanitary sewer from
27:20
Speaker 1: the stormwater sewer. And we did get several extensions and
27:24
Speaker 1: one was because of the flood. So now we have
27:28
Speaker 1: until twenty thirty seven, and hopefully as the time goes
27:32
Speaker 1: on there will be more and more technology that will
27:35
Speaker 1: have been developed that'll save us even more money.
27:39
Speaker 6: Very interesting.
27:39
Speaker 5: Thank you for following up and Chip Maxwell for passing
27:42
Speaker 5: that message along. We always take these questions, comments and
27:46
Speaker 5: concerns seriously and if we don't have the answer, and
27:48
Speaker 5: we I mean the educated host of the show, we'll
27:51
Speaker 5: get an answer for you. Let's head to the phone lines.
27:53
Speaker 5: Now we have Bruce on the line. Bruce, who are
27:55
Speaker 5: alive with Gene stauth here on KFAB.
27:58
Speaker 3: Good morning, Good morning.
28:01
Speaker 7: Under your administration, you negotiated some type of operation between
28:07
Speaker 7: Lake Cunningham and Miller Park. I don't know that as sacred,
28:11
Speaker 7: but I sure don't know anything about it.
28:14
Speaker 4: Can you explain.
28:16
Speaker 1: There's two completely different issues, and I think I'm talking
28:21
Speaker 1: You're talking about the development that's going on there. Lake
28:25
Speaker 1: Cunningham is still a city park in a public park. However,
28:32
Speaker 1: the operation and management has been taken over by a
28:36
Speaker 1: private sector and they have done a whole lot of
28:40
Speaker 1: unbelievable work that the philanthropy has paid for and the
28:44
Speaker 1: City of Omaha has not. So they've done a lot
28:48
Speaker 1: of work in that park. The former parks director that
28:51
Speaker 1: I hired, named brook Bench, He was hired by this
28:55
Speaker 1: group to operate and manage that park and he is
28:58
Speaker 1: doing a great job. But there is still a lot
29:01
Speaker 1: of work that's being done, and it's all improvements from
29:04
Speaker 1: bike trails to kayaking, to better boat docks, to better
29:09
Speaker 1: facilities to hold picnics, to areas that will be used
29:13
Speaker 1: for campgrounds and trailers with hookups. All of this is
29:17
Speaker 1: being developed up at Lake Cunningham and being managed privately.
29:22
Speaker 1: But again it is still an open public park, open
29:25
Speaker 1: to anybody that wants to come in Miller Park. It's
29:30
Speaker 1: another issue, and that is going under a major reconstruction
29:35
Speaker 1: of a sports facility. There's an indoor and outdoor facility
29:39
Speaker 1: that is being constructed out there right now. It's about
29:44
Speaker 1: a forty I would say, maybe approximately forty six million
29:48
Speaker 1: dollar improvement at Miller Park. And it is totally grant funded.
29:53
Speaker 1: And that was all achieved when I was still mayor.
29:57
Speaker 1: Taxpayer dollars, Omaha taxpayer dollars are not going into all
30:01
Speaker 1: the work being done at Miller Park. But when it
30:04
Speaker 1: is done, it's going to be a great indoor outdoor
30:06
Speaker 1: facility for students with baseball fields, soccer fields, basketball indoor,
30:11
Speaker 1: all sorts of things that are being put into Miller Park.
30:14
Speaker 1: So two completely different projects funded completely different Miller Park grants,
30:20
Speaker 1: Lake Cunningham privately by philanthropy.
30:23
Speaker 6: Let's get one more phone call in here, Matt.
30:25
Speaker 5: You are live with Geene Stouthard on news radio eleven
30:27
Speaker 5: ten kfab.
30:28
Speaker 1: Good morning, Good morning, And.
30:31
Speaker 7: I hate to start out by correcting you, but I
30:34
Speaker 7: think what you meant to say was Carter Lake is
30:38
Speaker 7: getting the forty some million dollar indoor outdoor and I
30:42
Speaker 7: think that previous caller was asking about Miller Park, which
30:46
Speaker 7: is going under the management of the Logier Foundation.
30:50
Speaker 1: You are so right, and you know what, this is
30:53
Speaker 1: my fog from being on an airplane. It is Carter
30:55
Speaker 1: Lake that is having the new indoor outdoor facility with
30:59
Speaker 1: the forty six million dollar worth of grant funded improvements.
31:03
Speaker 1: Miller Park is the other one that he was talking about,
31:06
Speaker 1: the Logier Foundation. You know, they have put a lot
31:10
Speaker 1: of money into Miller Park. This is a lot of
31:14
Speaker 1: it was Some of it was done I will say
31:17
Speaker 1: when I was still mayor, and some of it more
31:19
Speaker 1: is being done right now under the Ewing administration. But
31:24
Speaker 1: a lot of provements up there. And if you recall
31:27
Speaker 1: right there by Miller Park is also Nelson Mandela Private School,
31:32
Speaker 1: and the Loziers put a lot of money into that
31:35
Speaker 1: elementary school too, So they took a lot of pride
31:39
Speaker 1: in that area. If you recall Miller Park, at least
31:43
Speaker 1: one portion of it there used to be quite a
31:45
Speaker 1: bit of crime. There was a lot there was actually
31:48
Speaker 1: a murder, several murders there. They have cleared out a
31:51
Speaker 1: lot of the areas that had a lot of trees
31:54
Speaker 1: to make it safer. The carry Eroscoe Baseball Field is
31:58
Speaker 1: also up in Miller Park like a new playground. The
32:01
Speaker 1: golf has been upgraded. A lot has been done up
32:04
Speaker 1: in Miller Park. Thank you for correcting me on that one,
32:07
Speaker 1: because you are absolutely right. I was talking about the
32:10
Speaker 1: wrong park.
32:11
Speaker 6: You had a different question for us, though, Matt, is
32:13
Speaker 6: that correct?
32:14
Speaker 7: I did not mean to start by correcting you.
32:17
Speaker 1: Man, It's okay.
32:18
Speaker 7: I want to say I'm a North Omahawk person and
32:21
Speaker 7: I'm in favor of all of those arrangements and all
32:25
Speaker 7: of those projects. And also I was calling about another
32:30
Speaker 7: park area that we used to have, the Damn Bar,
32:35
Speaker 7: and that was one of my favorite places to go
32:38
Speaker 7: and sit by the river and listen to music. And
32:42
Speaker 7: I would just really like to understand what happened there,
32:47
Speaker 7: why the family took it back, and also I'd like
32:51
Speaker 7: to understand how is something that is quote unquote given
32:55
Speaker 7: to the city taken back after they decide they don't
33:01
Speaker 7: like what we're doing with it.
33:02
Speaker 1: Thank you, yes, and thank you for bringing that up.
33:04
Speaker 1: And you know, this is one of those things I
33:06
Speaker 1: need to get my memory refreshed a little bit. But
33:08
Speaker 1: if you recall there was a fire in that area,
33:11
Speaker 1: there was a flood in that area, and I feel
33:16
Speaker 1: like it was being quite neglected for a while and
33:19
Speaker 1: wasn't cleaned up to the standards that we would like
33:22
Speaker 1: it cleaned up. And so that is an area if
33:25
Speaker 1: I could give you come bit back to you tomorrow
33:28
Speaker 1: and give you a little bit better update because I
33:31
Speaker 1: want to know where they're at right now with all
33:34
Speaker 1: of that, and so I would get back with you
33:36
Speaker 1: on that one. I need my memory refreshed a little
33:39
Speaker 1: bit on that one.
33:40
Speaker 6: We'll come back to that one tomorrow.
33:41
Speaker 3: YEP.
33:42
Speaker 1: I know Scott has talked about those Jersey barriers and
33:45
Speaker 1: all the work going on there. And I did see
33:47
Speaker 1: the Hawkins trucks out there this morning. So I called
33:50
Speaker 1: the one and only Chris Hawkins and ask him explain
33:53
Speaker 1: to me so I could tell the folks what's going
33:56
Speaker 1: on on six' eighty and that is a widening project
34:00
Speaker 1: eighty one new lane in each direction from Dodge Street
34:04
Speaker 1: to just south of Pacific Street. And it's in dot
34:09
Speaker 1: Nebraska Department of Transportation program or project Hawkins is doing
34:13
Speaker 1: the work. And you know, that's just what's going on there.
34:17
Speaker 1: So those Jersey barriers and that widening. That's going to
34:20
Speaker 1: take a while for that to get complete.
34:22
Speaker 6: That's going to take a while.
34:23
Speaker 5: And I will say, though it is a little bit
34:26
Speaker 5: annoying whenever you have construction, especially on an interstate. It's
34:29
Speaker 5: actually okay. I mean, I feel like the traffic flows
34:32
Speaker 5: relatively decently.
34:33
Speaker 1: It does. I think it's kind of scary if you're
34:36
Speaker 1: on that far right lane and you're next to the
34:38
Speaker 1: Jersey barriers. But again, Hawkins does a great job. They
34:41
Speaker 1: do a lot of the state projects and they are
34:43
Speaker 1: usually on time and on budget, so it'll be it'll
34:47
Speaker 1: be a problem for a little bit or inconvenience, not
34:51
Speaker 1: a problem. But things seem to be flowing pretty pretty
34:54
Speaker 1: well along there. So that's what's going on there. So
34:57
Speaker 1: we do we do have a caller from Ron here
34:59
Speaker 1: about oppd Uh. Gene, I know that we you did
35:03
Speaker 1: a little research while you were gone as well about something.
35:06
Speaker 1: So I'm gonna get Ron's phone line here and then
35:08
Speaker 1: we can work into that. Ron your life here with
35:10
Speaker 1: Gene's author.
35:10
Speaker 3: Good morning, Good morning.
35:14
Speaker 4: My question is you were talking to the candidate for
35:17
Speaker 4: OPPD and you mentioned the nuclear power plant when that
35:24
Speaker 4: flooded several years ago. They spent hundreds of millions of
35:29
Speaker 4: dollars recommissioning it and immediately decommissioned it after they had
35:34
Speaker 4: it resurtified.
35:35
Speaker 1: The Fort Calhoun.
35:36
Speaker 4: I think that was a stupid waste of money.
35:41
Speaker 3: Was it?
35:41
Speaker 1: Are you're talking about the Fort Calhoun nuclear station? Yes?
35:45
Speaker 1: And you know, and they when they said it was
35:47
Speaker 1: due to economic factors and high operation costs. I know
35:52
Speaker 1: at that time I remembered it was one of the
35:56
Speaker 1: nation's smallest nuclear plants, but none less. It provided about
36:01
Speaker 1: five hundred megawatts of power and stability. And that's that
36:08
Speaker 1: five hundred megawatts is enough to serve about one hundred
36:11
Speaker 1: and fifty thousand homes at peak time. And so you
36:15
Speaker 1: know that that is that is an issue that we,
36:18
Speaker 1: I think all have to really consider and really really
36:22
Speaker 1: really think about these candidates that are running for oppd
36:26
Speaker 1: that are going to be making all of these decisions.
36:29
Speaker 1: I tend to agree with with both of the candidates
36:32
Speaker 1: that we've had on here that this goal of you know,
36:36
Speaker 1: net zero by twenty fifty are, what are we going
36:41
Speaker 1: to be doing that is going to cost more and
36:45
Speaker 1: it is going to make the service that we have
36:48
Speaker 1: less reliable, so I appreciate you calling in and giving
36:52
Speaker 1: that little bit more of information.
36:54
Speaker 5: We had a caller last week, Cheryl, that asked about
37:00
Speaker 5: sending power to Texas.
37:01
Speaker 1: Yes, yes, and I did say that I gave a
37:05
Speaker 1: little explanation, but I did have a gentleman that gave
37:09
Speaker 1: me some more information, who's an attorney in a firm
37:14
Speaker 1: that did some land assembly for wind and solar several
37:18
Speaker 1: years ago. But when she asked about the Texas power
37:22
Speaker 1: he told me that OPPD and NPPD are members of
37:26
Speaker 1: what is called the south West Power Pool, along with Kansas, Oklahoma,
37:33
Speaker 1: Texas and others. And he said, especially with the advent
37:37
Speaker 1: of wind and solar which are only intermittently available compared
37:42
Speaker 1: to coal, nuclear in gas. And he said, accordingly, there
37:46
Speaker 1: can be in balances between the demand and the available supply,
37:50
Speaker 1: and this consortium allows members, and I mentioned the states
37:55
Speaker 1: that are members to fill in shortages in other members,
37:59
Speaker 1: such as is extreme heat and thus increased demands so
38:04
Speaker 1: like that they have in Texas, say ac air conditioning
38:07
Speaker 1: power demands in Texas, while Nebraska may have excess due
38:12
Speaker 1: to weather conditions. So they also serve some degree of
38:16
Speaker 1: oversight of the infrastructure development as well, So Dave provided
38:21
Speaker 1: me with that information. But it is a consortium and
38:24
Speaker 1: it allows members in that consortium to fill in where
38:27
Speaker 1: there is shortages in other states due to things like
38:30
Speaker 1: extreme heat or storms and power outages, and so they're
38:36
Speaker 1: working together.
38:37
Speaker 5: So you're saying, based on that message and update, it
38:41
Speaker 5: goes both ways. We give extra power when we have
38:43
Speaker 5: it when it's needed, and vice versa will get it
38:46
Speaker 5: in return if there's ever a time when we need
38:48
Speaker 5: a little bit extra juice.
38:49
Speaker 1: Correct, there are imbalances between demand and available supply, and
38:54
Speaker 1: so that this consortium allows these members to fill in
38:57
Speaker 1: with each other and help each other with shortages.
39:01
Speaker 6: Very interesting a message from Windy here.
39:04
Speaker 5: I joked with Chip yesterday because this emailer said, Chip,
39:08
Speaker 5: you're filibustering, filibustering, filibustering.
39:13
Speaker 1: You mean, Chip was talking a lot, but that's what
39:15
Speaker 1: they're saying. Like I have the gift of gab too.
39:19
Speaker 1: You know, somebody wrote into Scott Vorhees and said he
39:22
Speaker 1: likes to hear himself talk. So I think we I mean,
39:24
Speaker 1: this is talk radio. We like to talk on talk radio.
39:27
Speaker 5: They said that you're filibustering today too. I said, come on.
39:30
Speaker 1: Oh, I'm not filibustering. I'm just talking. I have a
39:33
Speaker 1: lot to talk about. I've been gone a few days,
39:35
Speaker 1: so I've got a lot to talk about. Okay, we'll
39:38
Speaker 1: take your calls and I won't talk about runs of
39:40
Speaker 1: ice cream that has spices and cabbage in it.
39:44
Speaker 3: What.
39:44
Speaker 1: Yes, I'm getting queezy thinking about it. Are we done already?
39:49
Speaker 6: We're done?
39:49
Speaker 2: Oh?
39:50
Speaker 1: My goodness, time flies when we're having fun. Thank you
39:53
Speaker 1: so much for being here today and for listening to us. Today.
39:56
Speaker 1: Tomorrow is primary day. Please everybody get out and vote.
40:01
Speaker 1: It is so important for those who say I don't
40:04
Speaker 1: vote in the primary, I wait till the general. You
40:06
Speaker 1: have to make that decision who gets through the primary,
40:09
Speaker 1: and we are it's really important right now to do that.
40:13
Speaker 1: So get out there and vote. Thank you so much
40:14
Speaker 1: for being with us and listening. I am Jeene Stothard
40:17
Speaker 1: and this is eleven ten kfab