On paper, the public power district serving much of eastern Nebraska has been trying to quit coal at its North Omaha plant since 2014. That June, its board voted to retire three of the plant’s five coal units in 2016 and convert the final two to natural gas in 2023.
The almost 12 years since then, however, have been marked by delays that have kept coal units running at the aging plant, while power demand continues to rise. Then, in late 2025, as the public utility’s management recommended the board delay retiring the two remaining coal units, board members received some reassurance.
Omaha Public Power District CEO Javier Fernandez told the utility’s board members that a human health risk assessment, commissioned by management, showed that the plant poses no additional significant “negative impact on the health of people in the vicinity.”
But that’s not exactly what the report — which focused on a specific type of air pollution, not all the potential harms to human health — shows, according to six public health and environm... Read more
