OPD5 CEO/General Manager MeLisa Garcia shared her Road Map to Success for the coming year during a meeting of the board of directors on Wednesday evening, January 21 in Overton. The presentation focused on five areas of priority that Garcia has targeted to guide management decisions in 2026.
Garcia emphasized that these five topics had been taken directly from the guidance given by the board through an in-depth strategic planning process which the board completed last summer.
“Every milestone on this road moves us closer to being a more efficient and resilient OPD5,” she said. “So these are really our five keys to success in the coming year.”
Safety
First and foremost among these was the topic of safety. Garcia outlined a rigorous plan for employee safety training including monthly company-wide safety meetings, training programs from national associations and specialized in-house training modules targeted for applicable personnel.
The plan also included public outreach campaigns by doing safety presentations in local schools, briefing first responders in live powerline safety procedures and giving demonstrations to employee groups at some of the district’s largest industrial customers.
Workforce development
The second area of focus was to continue to develop a skilled workforce at OPD5. “We see our people as our greatest strength,” Garcia said. “So we are focused on preparing our staff for the challenges of the future.”
The plan included working with the management team on comprehensive succession planning for all key positions. In connection with this was a focus on soft skills development and adequate cross training to build a pool of backup knowledge to cover for every staff role.
Garcia also proposed a full refresh of the district’s organizational structure to comprehend future hiring needs. This would prepare the district, both to fill holes left by upcoming retirements and to anticipate new roles that will be needed, she said.
Financial stability
Garcia’s next focus area was on maintaining a solid financial footing for OPD5. “Financial stability is really critical to everything we do,” she said. “It is just essential for us to be able to provide our service to the community.”
Garcia committed to a disciplined budget analysis of every department. The management team would be focused on closely monitoring all controllable expenses and running a tight ship, she said. The strategy would also include the development of a detailed borrowing plan that would project accurate financing needs throughout the coming years.
Community involvement
The next milestone in Garcia’s 2026 plan dealt with Community Engagement. “This is something that I am passionate about,” she said. “Building trust and transparency with the communities that we serve is vitally important.”
Her plan included continued participation at various “community-facing” events including Mesquite Days, Clark County Fair, a number of local holiday parades, continued involvement in local food drives and participation at career fairs. The district would also take an active role in key groups such as the chamber of commerce and other civic organizations.
A robust communications plan called for effective messaging on social media platforms, the district’s website at opd5.com, and local media campaigns.
Also included in this milestone was active advocacy for community interests at state and federal legislative settings as well as involvement in the policy-making efforts of state and national trade organizations.
Infrastructure and reliability
The fifth key to success involved keeping up with the district’s infrastructure needs and enhancing reliability of service.
This area of focus included looking into a full analysis on load flow and transmission needs of the district. “For many of the load flow and transmission ten year studies that were done, growth in the Mesquite area has now surpassed what those studies thought the peak was going to be at this time,” Garcia said. “We need to relook at those and review the cost for new studies and find out when we might need to start implementing them again.”
Garcia ended her presentation by summarizing a long list of projects that OPD5 staff had committed to completing in 2026. She then presented her metric for how the district would measure its success this year. This metric was in the form of a series of six questions.
“Did we do this work with the safety first mindset?” she said. “Did we make data driven decisions every day? Did we hold ourselves and others accountable? Did we work in collaboration with each other? And, did we act in service to the communities that we serve? If we can say ‘yes’ to each of those things, 2026 will be a success.”