General

5 reasons to download the new MyOPPD app

The new app provides on-the-go access to a wealth of information. Set your preferences now to receive automatic updates about outages.

We get it: You have thousands of unread emails, a mailbox full of junk and endless to-do lists in your work and personal life. 

When you get a free second, though, you’ll find a ton of very useful benefits in the new MyOPPD app (now available on both Android and Apple phones) or at MyOPPD.com. 

The new MyOPPD app lets you manage your account on the go. It replaces the previous app, OPPDConnect, which is no longer connected to OPPD’s systems.  If you used our previous app, just delete it and download the new MyOPPD app.    

Here are five quick reasons why you really want to personalize your preferences and notifications on the MyOPPD platform. 

Outage notifications 

When severe weather causes widespread outages in OPPD’s service territory, customers who have enrolled into outage notifications in MyOPPD account can get up-to-date notifications about their specific outage without having to call OPPD’s customer service center. 

This includes confirmations that OPPD is aware of their outage, estimated restoration times from the field, and a notification when power is restored. To get these notifications, customers must visit the “Notification Preferences” section under Account in MyOPPD, turn on the “outages” category and enter their contact information. There you can customize how you’d like to receive updates: via email, phone call or text.  

It’s also still important to report outages to be certain that OPPD is aware. 

OPPD wants to enroll as many customers as possible before another major storm event to help with those communication efforts. 

“There are things you can do on the new platform that we’d encourage you to set up now within your account so you can get better communications from OPPD,” said Ryan Larson, business enablement lead at OPPD. 

Customers who want to follow specific outages can also register for updates without formally logging in or creating an account. 

Bill updates

MyOPPD account users can set up notifications about when their next bill is available and past-due notices. They can enroll in auto-payment as well to ensure they never miss a bill. 

MyOPPD will also notify customers by email when OPPD has started their service and assigned them an account number or stopped service. Some of these notices can be sent by text if customers turn on that preference. 

It also will send past-due and disconnect notices to warn customers. OPPD sends those notifications regardless, but placing your most up-to-date email address and phone number in the system will ensure the message goes to the correct place. 

“If customers update their contact info here, then we have a reliable channel to communicate with them directly,” Larson said. 

Guest access 

OPPD account holders can give limited or complete access to “guest users” via MyOPPD. 

This bypasses the normal process of calling OPPD’s customer service center to manually add another person to your account (although that’s still an option). 

Guest users with full access to an account can make payments, while those with limited access can simply view bills and other account information. Guest users can set their own notification preferences as well. 

Additionally, customers with more than one property (a home and a business, for instance) can set up different notifications for each. 

Tracking your usage 

The MyOPPD app also allows you to track your electricity usage, and the new advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) meters going out to customers will provide even more granular detail. 

The current OPPD customer meters show monthly consumption in the MyOPPD platform. Once OPPD installs a new AMI meter at your home or business, MyOPPD will let you see your usage in monthly, daily, hourly and 15-minute increments. OPPD is installing AMI meters in waves over the next few years. 

This may help you identify potential areas where you can conserve energy. An optional daily usage alert available through AMI meters can notify you when you’ve exceeded a preset threshold (usually with a 1-2 day delay). 

“You can set where you want that threshold to be,” Larson said. 

Outages, streetlights and marketing 

MyOPPD offers many other neat features for customers, including an outage map that lets you find and track specific outages, a streetlight outage map, and optional marketing information about OPPD products and services (energy assistance, rebates and so on). 

If you want specific OPPD marketing information, you can subscribe within MyOPPD. 

“At the end of the day, MyOPPD is about putting more control in our customers’ hands so they can stay informed, prepared and connected when it matters most,” Larson said.