More areas of the state could soon be affected by continued rolling power outages created by increased demand during the state's recent spell of bitter cold. The outages are extending well beyond Nebraska and affecting nearly all of the Midwest, including nearly every power district in the state.

Over 57,000 people are without power across Nebraska.

"To maintain system reliability, NPPD has just been informed by SPP that we need to do emergency coordinated interruptions of service," said NPPD spokesperson Mark Becker. "These 30-minute interruptions of service occur in real-time, so we have very little, if any, notice as to where these interruptions will take place." 

These outages are likely to affect parts of Norfolk in the morning, among other areas of the state. A reported power line fire in Norfolk near early Tuesday morning was also complicating issues in the city. The fire was reported at First and Madison.

Loup Power District also confirms that Platte Center, Duncan and Lindsay customers will be affected.

Northeast Power in Wayne said it anticipates Hoskins and rural Hoskins to soon be affected.

Also in northeast Nebraska, Hartington was affected early Monday morning with customers saying they received a message of potentially three-hour-long outages, longer than the 30-60 minutes most utilities have been quoting. The outage, which began at 7:27 a.m., had an estimated repair time of 10:30 a.m., but NPPD reported a resolution by 8:43 a.m.

Cornhusker Public Power has also received word of rolling blackouts, affecting Monroe, Albion and Columbus among others.

Southern Public Power District said shortly before 7:30 a.m. that none of its customers had been affected yet, but the probability of some facing rolling blackouts remains. The potential affected area is in Hall County northwest of Grand Island, extending from Alda to the north but not affecting Alda. Cairo, however, would most likely be included in the outage.


KBR Rural Public Power District also issued an advisory. Currently, there are reports of power outages in Long Pine and Bassett. 

Omaha Public Power District President and CEO Tim Burke delivered a statement Monday night after the Omaha metro and surrounding areas experienced rolling blackouts during the day. 


As of 8:00 Tuesday morning, 31,470 Douglas County residents were without power. Another nearly 3,000 were without power in Sarpy County, while 93 were affected in Cass County. Omaha Public Schools has canceled remote learning for the day.

Nebraska's other major metro area, Lincoln, began rolling outages early Tuesday morning. As of 8:00 a.m., controlled outages were in effect for substations in the areas of I-80 and Highway 34 and Southwest 25th through Southwest 84th and W A to W Plum Streets.

Additional outages were in place for Southwest 27th to Southwest 8th and W Millstone to W Lake, S 14th to S 40th and Yankee Hill to Rokeby, as well as the College View area and Highway 2 from 27th to 56th and Pioneers to Old Cheney. An outage in far northeast Lincoln, northeast of 70th and Adams, as well as a section of north Lincoln between I-80 and Cornhusker was added to the list just before 8 a.m.

A full map of the affected areas in Lincoln can be found here.

Holdrege in central Nebraska was also among the areas affected yesterday, as roughly three-quarters of the town lost power in the late morning and early afternoon before it was restored. 

In the southeast part of the state, Norris Public Power District also announced expected rolling outages throughout Tuesday. Falls City has announced plans to generate 100 percent of its electrical load if OPPD temporarily disconnects from the city, which it is expected to do by mid-Tuesday morning.

Meanwhile, High West Energy and Wheat Belt Public Power District told News Channel Nebraska Monday night that there were no expected outages in the panhandle, though some nearby counties in Wyoming and Colorado were affected overnight. Wheatbelt now says Tuesday morning that outages are affecting the area with more likely throughout the day.

NPPD reports more than 1,000 customers are without power as of 8 a.m. Tuesday in Minatare, Melbeta and McGrew in Scotts Bluff Counties.

Utility companies across the state advised customers limit usage.

Stay tuned for more updates as they arrive. Due to the extensive nature of the power outages, some specific locations might not be mentioned.