What are the responsibilities and job description for the Engineering Intern position at Omaha Public Power District?
Opportunity Profile
OPPD will have a variety of COOP opportunities available beginning in January 2026. COOPs will work full¿time through August, gaining hands-on experience and contributing to meaningful projects that support OPPD¿s mission and operations.
The Omaha Public Power District (OPPD) is one of the largest publicly owned electric utilities in the United States, serving more than 855,000 people across a 13¿county region in eastern Nebraska. With a commitment to reliability, affordability, innovation, and sustainability, OPPD plays a vital role in powering homes, businesses, and communities. As a COOP, you¿ll have the chance to collaborate with industry professionals, apply classroom knowledge to real-world challenges, and build skills that support both your academic and professional growth.
Available areas are detailed below:
Duration: Jan - Aug 2027
Other: Work 40 hours/week
Work Schedule: M-F - 8 hours/day
Pay: $26.32-$29.25
Power Generation Engineer: This role is best for Mechanical Engineering students. In this role you will work on site at a power generation facility. Work may include design development, investigating and resolving equipment problems, coordinating the work activities of outside consulting engineers to resolve equipment problems, preparing plant performance trends, field verify and update drawings, supporting testing and inspections of equipment, assisting in system health monitoring, and performing component criticality classifications. Opportunities may include work related to steam turbines, reciprocating equipment, boilers, and more.
Transmission Engineering: This is a great opportunity for Civil Engineering Students. The COOP is designed for hands-on and in-depth experiences of an electric utility transmission infrastructure environment. The co-op will gain understanding of transmission line design drawings, construction drawing, regulatory requirements, and industry standards as it relates to design, procurement, construction, and commissioning. Experience will also include material procurement, contract preparation, substation and structure site visits and other aspects from project execution to close-out. Students will work in an engineering team environment with civil, structural, and electrical engineers along with CADD operators resulting in exposures across various disciplines and skillsets. Project experience will entail structure design, foundations, line clearance analysis, PLS-CADD software analysis, contract development and bid review.
Substation Engineering: This program is designed for hands-on and in-depth experiences of an electric utility substation environment. The co-op will gain understanding of equipment (transformers, arresters, breakers, switches, batteries, etc.) design drawings, regulatory requirements, and industry standards as it relates to design, procurement, construction, and commissioning. Experience will also include material procurement, contract preparation, substation site visits and other aspects from project execution to close-out. Student will work in an engineering team environment with civil, structural, and electrical engineers along with CADD operators resulting in exposures across various Disciplines and skillsets. Project experience will entail battery sizing, equipment (RTU, breaker, relaying) design and wiring, software analysis, contract development and bid review.
Design Engineering: Assist full time engineers with the evaluation, design and implementation of modifications at OPPD generation facilities. This includes, but is not limited to, researching drawings, inspecting field conditions, creating sketches, attending meetings, extracting data from plant data systems, creating spreadsheets, analyzing problems, checking and performing calculations, performing economic evaluations, marking/updating drawings, inspecting equipment and overseeing construction activities.
Generation Asset Management: Assist Asset Management and Programs engineers with daily activities in support of fossil electricity generation in steam and gas plants including performance testing, reliability engineering, inspections, vibrations, thermography, motor testing, and other assignments.
Distribution Operations: Collaborate with Distribution Operations Engineering and Data team to ensure the accuracy of operations data; Intense data investigation, assist with system reliability studies, assist with monthly reliability reporting and will provide real-time technical support to the Distribution Operation team
Required Qualifications:
At Omaha Public Power District, everything starts with people - our teams, our communities, and the customer owners who count on us. As the 12 th largest public power utility in the U.S., we serve more than 900,000 people across 13 counties, and we take that responsibility seriously.
We lead with integrity, support one another, and do what¿s right, because how we serve matters just as much as what we deliver. Our goal is simple: provide affordable, reliable, and environmentally responsible energy today and for generations to come.
We create power with purpose. Your work here has real impact; on families, on the environment, and on the future of energy. And we believe great ideas can come from anywhere.
If you want to be part of a team that takes care of the community and the people who serve it, you¿re in the right place. We back up our mission by taking care of our employees, too; which is why our benefits are among the most comprehensive and competitive in the region.
Ready to apply?
When you apply, be sure your resume highlights the skills and experience that will help you succeed in this role.
EOE: Protected Veterans/Disability
Recruiter Information
Recruiter: Michael Fierro - mrfierro@oppd.com
OPPD will have a variety of COOP opportunities available beginning in January 2026. COOPs will work full¿time through August, gaining hands-on experience and contributing to meaningful projects that support OPPD¿s mission and operations.
The Omaha Public Power District (OPPD) is one of the largest publicly owned electric utilities in the United States, serving more than 855,000 people across a 13¿county region in eastern Nebraska. With a commitment to reliability, affordability, innovation, and sustainability, OPPD plays a vital role in powering homes, businesses, and communities. As a COOP, you¿ll have the chance to collaborate with industry professionals, apply classroom knowledge to real-world challenges, and build skills that support both your academic and professional growth.
Available areas are detailed below:
Duration: Jan - Aug 2027
Other: Work 40 hours/week
Work Schedule: M-F - 8 hours/day
Pay: $26.32-$29.25
Power Generation Engineer: This role is best for Mechanical Engineering students. In this role you will work on site at a power generation facility. Work may include design development, investigating and resolving equipment problems, coordinating the work activities of outside consulting engineers to resolve equipment problems, preparing plant performance trends, field verify and update drawings, supporting testing and inspections of equipment, assisting in system health monitoring, and performing component criticality classifications. Opportunities may include work related to steam turbines, reciprocating equipment, boilers, and more.
Transmission Engineering: This is a great opportunity for Civil Engineering Students. The COOP is designed for hands-on and in-depth experiences of an electric utility transmission infrastructure environment. The co-op will gain understanding of transmission line design drawings, construction drawing, regulatory requirements, and industry standards as it relates to design, procurement, construction, and commissioning. Experience will also include material procurement, contract preparation, substation and structure site visits and other aspects from project execution to close-out. Students will work in an engineering team environment with civil, structural, and electrical engineers along with CADD operators resulting in exposures across various disciplines and skillsets. Project experience will entail structure design, foundations, line clearance analysis, PLS-CADD software analysis, contract development and bid review.
Substation Engineering: This program is designed for hands-on and in-depth experiences of an electric utility substation environment. The co-op will gain understanding of equipment (transformers, arresters, breakers, switches, batteries, etc.) design drawings, regulatory requirements, and industry standards as it relates to design, procurement, construction, and commissioning. Experience will also include material procurement, contract preparation, substation site visits and other aspects from project execution to close-out. Student will work in an engineering team environment with civil, structural, and electrical engineers along with CADD operators resulting in exposures across various Disciplines and skillsets. Project experience will entail battery sizing, equipment (RTU, breaker, relaying) design and wiring, software analysis, contract development and bid review.
Design Engineering: Assist full time engineers with the evaluation, design and implementation of modifications at OPPD generation facilities. This includes, but is not limited to, researching drawings, inspecting field conditions, creating sketches, attending meetings, extracting data from plant data systems, creating spreadsheets, analyzing problems, checking and performing calculations, performing economic evaluations, marking/updating drawings, inspecting equipment and overseeing construction activities.
Generation Asset Management: Assist Asset Management and Programs engineers with daily activities in support of fossil electricity generation in steam and gas plants including performance testing, reliability engineering, inspections, vibrations, thermography, motor testing, and other assignments.
Distribution Operations: Collaborate with Distribution Operations Engineering and Data team to ensure the accuracy of operations data; Intense data investigation, assist with system reliability studies, assist with monthly reliability reporting and will provide real-time technical support to the Distribution Operation team
Required Qualifications:
- Engineering student
- 2.5 GPA or higher is required
- Sophomore or higher college level
- Current full-time student attending an accredited college/university
At Omaha Public Power District, everything starts with people - our teams, our communities, and the customer owners who count on us. As the 12 th largest public power utility in the U.S., we serve more than 900,000 people across 13 counties, and we take that responsibility seriously.
We lead with integrity, support one another, and do what¿s right, because how we serve matters just as much as what we deliver. Our goal is simple: provide affordable, reliable, and environmentally responsible energy today and for generations to come.
We create power with purpose. Your work here has real impact; on families, on the environment, and on the future of energy. And we believe great ideas can come from anywhere.
If you want to be part of a team that takes care of the community and the people who serve it, you¿re in the right place. We back up our mission by taking care of our employees, too; which is why our benefits are among the most comprehensive and competitive in the region.
Ready to apply?
When you apply, be sure your resume highlights the skills and experience that will help you succeed in this role.
EOE: Protected Veterans/Disability
Recruiter Information
Recruiter: Michael Fierro - mrfierro@oppd.com
Salary : $26 - $29