Substations

The substation's role

Eastern Nebraskans count on OPPD to provide the reliable and affordable electricity that runs everyone’s daily lives. Every OPPD customer counts on electricity to power the tools they rely on, like smartphones, computers, lights, kitchen appliances, even heating and cooling systems. There are many elements that go into producing electricity and getting it to homes and businesses.

Homes, businesses, and other buildings receive electricity through an interconnected system that generates, transmits and distributes electricity. We commonly refer to this system as “the grid.”

Substations are a critical part of “the grid.” Substations come in various shapes and sizes, and have multiple functions. These include stepping up voltage and allowing energy to travel long distances through OPPD’s transmission system. Others step down the voltage, making the electricity usable for customers.

Most substations are facilities that help route electricity and transform it into usable voltages. Power is sent from power generating sites on larger transmission power lines to substations where the power's voltage is lowered and sent to your neighborhood on distribution power lines, which becomes the power in your home or place of work.

Substations also help OPPD with their protection and control relays which act like a brain, collecting stimuli from the grid and sharing it with OPPD’s Energy Control Center. If the relays detect a problem, such as a short-circuit or overload, they automatically engage the substation’s breakers. These act like muscles that interrupt the flow of electricity to isolate the problem. Power is rerouted to help minimize the area and duration of a potential outage.

Substations are smart and heavily automated. OPPD works around the clock to keep them ready, resilient and secure. When it’s time for OPPD to do routine maintenance, the breakers isolate sections and enable crews to work safely without interrupting the flow of electricity to the remainder of the grid.

The need for more substations

As the demand landscape changes, OPPD forecasts energy needs and works with communities and customers to select a suitable substation site.

Substations cost millions of dollars to design and construct and, depending on the complexity of the site, can take up to five years to bring online once the need is identified. OPPD’s Substation, System Protection, Substation Engineering and other departments collaborate on the design, construction, maintenance and operation of the utility’s substations. Substations must comply with federal regulations, including the National Electrical Safety Code, Occupational Safety and Health Administration guidelines, and the National Energy Reliability Corporation (NERC) Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) standards.