(KLZA)-- Cass County resident Rick Yoder wants to represent Southeast Nebraska on the Omaha Public Power District Board of Directors.

Yoder, works for the Nebraska Business Development Center as a business advisor. He has a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Iowa State University.

Yoder says he feels as a board member, he would try to shift the culture of the OPPD management from a monopolistic mindset that has become a big top heavy. He said OPPD has to be run as a business and deliver returns in the way of low costs of energy.  

Yoder says he will listen to management, but will want to see reports and ask questions. He says there are some tough decisions that need to be made in the near future.

One of those decisions is the future of the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Power Plant north of Omaha. Yoder said the smallest nuclear plant on the grid was managed into closure. It took $200-million to bring it back on line and now it costs $2-million monthly to have someone else run the plant that is not making money. Yoder said it is time to look at the business case for keeping the plant in operation, look for a buyer, or close it down.

Yoder will run in the primary race against 30-year incumbent Fred Ulrich and Chuck Hutchison.  Yoder said Ulrich is a nice guy who represents the thinking that has put OPPD in the position it is currently in. Yoder says he feels the other challenger, Chuck Hutchison is also supportive of a stay the course mentality.

Yoder says it is a time of transition for OPPD and he would be a leader in changing the culture and in rattling the assumption that helped them keep with the decisions they have already made. 

The two men with the most votes in the May 10th primary will run against one another in November for the position.  

For more information on Yoder you can go to his website rick, slash yoder.com.