Clean Energy for NPPD
What happens at Nebraska Public Power District (NPPD) affects all Nebraskans. All over our state citizens are interested in the decisions that NPPD makes, because:
- Hear Petersburg’s Ross Knott for Wind
- NPPD was a pioneer in wind power with its Springview and Ainsworth Wind Energy Facilities and its documentation in 2003 of rural Nebraskans’ strong support for using our state’s top-tier wind resource to make clean electricity. (Additional polling every year since indicates that this strong support continues.) In recent years NPPD has resisted expanding the share of wind in its energy mix, despite the fact that Nebraskans want more wind-powered electricity and the fact that large-scale wind power is at least as inexpensive as coal-fired power, and sometimes less. Citizens and customer-owners are pressing its Board of Directors to invest in wind energy now. Listen to the radio spot at the link above, and see the newspaper ad here.
- NPPD owns and operates major coal-fired generation resources- The two units of the Gerald Gentleman Station at Sutherland are rated for 1,365 MW of generating capacity and Sheldon Station’s boilers represent 225 MW of capacity located near Hallam. Not only do these power plants produce electricity for a wide area of the state, but they are subject to regulations that protect our health and NPPD may be required to retrofit the facilities with billions of dollars of pollution-removing equipment. Those costs will be spread over everyone who uses their electricity.
- Energy generation is the single largest source for greenhouse gas pollution. Just two power plants - Gerald Gentleman Station and Sheldon Station - together are responsible each year for 10.9 million metric tons of carbon dioxide according to a recent downloadable report called Dirty Power Plants. (1.2MB)
- NPPD territory includes much of the state that lies west of Lincoln and north of Omaha. While some of the rural power districts buy their wholesale electricity elsewhere, NPPD remains a key supplier of Nebraska energy, including serving thousands of retail customers. It is a political force in the Unicameral and a unique element in Nebraska’s economy.
In 2013, NPPD completed a new Integrated Resources Plan, a thorough review of the options for meeting the future need for electricity. The report shows that NPPD could pursue a clean energy future – with far more energy from wind and energy efficiency, and using about half as much power from old coal-fired power plants – at the same cost as the current ‘business as usual’ approach.
Download Assessment of NPPD Draft IRP FINAL
NPPD could make an even more positive contribution to the state’s economic health by following the suggestions in a report called Securing Nebraska’s Energy and Economic Future which was released by the Nebraska Sierra Club in Fall 2012.