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Cole Epley on Muck Rack

Cole Epley

Omaha
As seen in: U.S. News and World Report, SFGate, Washington Times, The News & Observer, Omaha World-Herald, Times Union (Albany), The State, Bradenton Herald, Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, Grand Island Independent and
Covers:  Business, energy, renewable energy, banking, payments technology, workforce
Recovering journalist; president of the Cap'n Geech & the Shrimp Shack Shooters fan club; @MBJMemphis alum, @OWHmoney exile
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As natural gas prices plummeted, OPPD leaders clung to expensive, inefficient Fort Calhoun

As natural gas prices plummeted, OPPD leaders clung to expensive, inefficient Fort Calhoun

Omaha World-Herald — Two months before Missouri River floodwaters in 2011 threatened the smallest operating nuclear plant in the country just 20 miles north of downtown Omaha, executives at a similar-size nuclear plant in Wisconsin faced their own problem: what to do with a facility they said no longer made economic sense to operate. In the management suites at the Omaha Public Power District headquarters, those same discussions were kept under wraps; not even the electric utility's elected board of directors knew about them. This is the story of how lack of board oversight and the actions of OPPD management (and inaction) ended up costing the utility's captive ratepayers hundreds of millions of dollars—and left them holding the bag for more than a billion more to decommission the Fort Calhoun nuclear plant.
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With new EMV cards, tipping is about to get a lot more awkward

With new EMV cards, tipping is about to get a lot more awkward

Omaha World-Herald — When card issuers started mailing out new chip cards back in 2015, waiters and waitresses discovered a major problem: the new technology was so secure that some point-of-sale terminals wouldn't and couldn't allow for tip adjustments. I broke this story, along with a bonus sidebar in which I interviewed Miss Manners to talk about the "silly, coy and embarrassing" American tipping custom.
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Tully's Kennels petition shows how social media makes activism easy - but a spark can become a vi...

Tully's Kennels petition shows how social media makes activism easy - but a spark can become a vi...

Omaha World-Herald — Cassandra Johnsen, like many people in Omaha, had heard the horror stories about Tully's Kennel. The pet shop has long faced accusations of animal neglect and association with puppy mills. But unlike others before her, Johnsen took her emotional reaction to social media—and in less than 24 hours, her hashtag activism had spun out of control.
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The Million-Dollar Men of Memphis Healthcare

The Million-Dollar Men of Memphis Healthcare

Memphis Business Journal — Not-for-profit healthcare providers were challenged just as much, if not more, than their for-profit counterparts, and executive salaries in the Memphis market reflected that in the early 2010s. The Affordable Care Act roll-out made skilled executives a hot commodity, so I probed healthcare executive headhunters, boards of directors and even executives themselves to find out the justification for seven-figure salaries among the city's top two health systems.
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Farms face steep slide: Net profits this year expected to be half of what they were in 2013

Farms face steep slide: Net profits this year expected to be half of what they were in 2013

Omaha World-Herald — As the farm economy continued its slide in early 2017, some farmers had the feeling they were being boiled alive. At a time when many commodities producers were seeing a break-even as a win, farmers and lenders alike were scrambling to make sure they head off real problems. “We’re losing a dollar for every bushel that we produce,” one farmer said, “and it isn’t going to take long before I’ve got a wheat farm for sale.”
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Unlike its OPPD cousin at Fort Calhoun, NPPD's Cooper Nuclear Station staying the course

Unlike its OPPD cousin at Fort Calhoun, NPPD's Cooper Nuclear Station staying the course

Omaha World-Herald — About 80 miles separate Nebraska's two nuclear power plants, but they might as well be separated by a light-year, according to an analysis of costs to produce electricity at each plant. It cost the Nebraska Public Power District about $40 in 2015 to generate a megawatt-hour of electricity at its Cooper Nuclear Station south of Brownville—above the national average of about $35.50, but a far cry from the roughly $71 it cost at its now-dead cousin north of Omaha.
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OPPD secured retention pay for Fort Calhoun employees before board voted to shut down the plant

OPPD secured retention pay for Fort Calhoun employees before board voted to shut down the plant

Omaha World-Herald — Employees at the Omaha Public Power District got contracts worth millions of dollars in bonuses to entice them to stay at the Fort Calhoun nuclear power plant instead of leaving for other jobs as the utility's management discussed closing the facility. That's standard practice — except for the fact that retention agreements were signed before the utility's board of directors ever voted to close the plant.
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First Data: The next big thing? The story of the Omaha-born giant that refused to die

First Data: The next big thing? The story of the Omaha-born giant that refused to die

Omaha World-Herald — Some Wall Street analysts have Omaha-born First Data pegged as the next big thing. That's a far cry from the sickly, debt-addled company those same analysts had on death watch just a few years ago.
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10 years later, California-based Bank of the West remains bullish on Omaha

10 years later, California-based Bank of the West remains bullish on Omaha

Omaha World-Herald — In the 10 years since a California bank bought homegrown Commercial Federal, the institution has lost more than 40 percent of its local deposits. But despite the iconic bear adorning its logo, Bank of the West is bullish when it comes to Omaha: It’s got a plan to win back clients, it’s kept a sizable — and growing — workforce in the city and it’s continued its commitment to Omaha.
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OPPD ratepayers will pay more than $1 billion to decommission Fort Calhoun nuclear plant

OPPD ratepayers will pay more than $1 billion to decommission Fort Calhoun nuclear plant

Omaha World-Herald — Omaha Public Power District ratepayers will chip in more than $1 billion over the next seven years toward decommissioning the now-closed Fort Calhoun nuclear power plant, meaning it will continue to be a financial burden for years to come.
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