English (United States)
Our state motto is “The good life,” and I don’t think any Nebraska natives underestimate the impact of this place and its people. This is a good place to put down roots. It’s a place where you know your neighbors and your local leaders, you cheer for your college football team each weekend, and you work hard so you can play just as hard. It’s a place of solid values, where the good stuff is found in simplicity.
There’s a reason, deep down, this is the good life. It’s because our people are constantly building and striving for more. Foundationally, the good life is built upon the people who ideate, develop and bolster our economic development efforts, and at the heart of that lies our public power utilities. NPPD is proud to power innovation and progress in Nebraska, and the decisions we’re making prove we’ve got what it takes to power Nebraska’s economy now and in the future.
This sentiment was echoed in the Nebraska Chamber Foundation’s compelling report about the current state of the electric industry here. Results were extremely favorable to public power, especially when our work was compared against that of other utilities in the nation.
Both in Nebraska and nationally, load growth began its upward tick around 2021, and from there, has escalated to unprecedented levels – the likes of which we haven’t seen since World War II. In fact, the report revealed Nebraska’s energy consumption has nearly tripled from 1960 to 2021.
From the report: “The degree to which the pace of change in the industry has accelerated cannot be overstated. In mid-2023, the industry was only just beginning to talk about large loads, and the first major industry report on the topic was published in December 2023. The fact that load forecasts are showing significant increases year to year is also new and, importantly, was not anticipated. As such, frequent revisions to load forecasts and required generation and grid infrastructure should be expected through this period.”
This uptick nationally is a result of manufacturing and data center buildouts and is coming to fruition at the same time as many consumers ask for reduced carbon emissions. Add in variable fuel costs, changing regulations to meet peak demand forecasts within the region, and a need for improved resiliency and availability in the face of stronger and more frequent weather events, and you have yourself a myriad of complexities to navigate.
Understandably, this creates quite a paradox across the U.S. as utilities delay coal-fired power plant retirements so they can meet load growth and prepare to build new generation, transmission and distribution infrastructure. All this is raising electric rates by up to 30% in many states.
Fortunately for Nebraska, the report sang the praises of Nebraska’s public power model, which promotes public participation in the decisions our utilities make and is not-for-profit, meaning our rates are based on the cost of service to customers. It reveals it’s this lack of profit motive and close alignment with communities that is part of the reason why Nebraskans haven’t seen huge rate increases and why our state’s electricity rates are so low. And, it’s why we are very careful when we consider generation expansion projects to properly serve customers well into the future, recognizing there must be a careful balance between this need for more power and a need to maintain affordable electricity for all.
NPPD is equipped to handle these extreme challenges, due largely to our already diverse generation mix and top-rated reliability and cost-competitiveness. The report commended Nebraska’s average retail electricity cost of 9 cents/kilowatt-hour in 2023, which placed it at sixth lowest in nation, as well as NPPD’s goal to maintain total retail base rate position among the lowest 15% of providers. In turn, we haven’t increased wholesale rates for seven consecutive years and counting.
It’s for these very reasons we are seeing so many businesses expand or relocate here. As the report notes, they are drawn to our favorable business climate, central U.S. location, good infrastructure, abundant water resources, technology-friendliness and educated workforce. As a result, we’re seeing sizeable load growth coming from sustainable aviation fuel production, hydrogen manufacturing, ethanol production, food processing, and agribusiness.
NPPD’s new generation projects will provide additional capacity to support this remarkable growth, but they will also create more flexibility and responsiveness within our generation mix.
A common question making its way around is if electricity is running out.
While we certainly aren’t running out of energy or capacity in Nebraska, we do recognize these changing times present a unique opportunity to expand our resources to support our thriving customers. It’s all hands on deck, and teammates are committed to a growth mindset focused on data-driven, forward-thinking solutions that also minimize rate impacts for customers.
One part of this process was the creation this year of a new load queue that will help us manage customer expectations around the timeline for which their projects come on-line, while ensuring we can plan adequate capacity to ensure continued reliability and affordability.
The report stated, Nebraska is generally well positioned to support increased load. Through strategic investments in new generation, renewable energy, streamlined regulatory processes, and innovative rates, Nebraska is positioning itself to meet future challenges while continuing to provide reliable, affordable energy to its residents and industrial customers.
NPPD and its customers recognize that only by working together can we meet this growing customer demand and serve Nebraskans best.
What’s most important is knowing we all play a role in shaping Nebraska’s energy future and ensuring the good life lives on for generations to come.
Check out NPPD’s new generation plan here, and our Integrated Resource Plan here to learn more about how we forecast for future load growth.
