Letter to the Editor

February 25, 2017 Leave a comment


Nebraska has a bright future in renewable energy

By Lu Nelsen, lucasn@cfra.org, Center for Rural Affairs

 Dear Editor,

Nebraska has a bright future in renewable energy. This cheap and clean energy can serve as a new driver for our local rural economies. When it comes to wind energy potential, Nebraska is fourth in the U.S. – in fact, the state could produce enough energy from wind to meet our needs 118 times over, or enough to power 511,000 average homes.

Despite this great potential, Nebraska continues to lag behind neighboring states in developing our wind energy resources. We are currently ranked 20th for installed wind energy. While Nebraskans work to catch up, local officials and developers should work to identify and address concerns that surround new projects and form standards that will work best for their communities. This local control over zoning has proven to work for many kinds of development, and maintaining it is the best way to ensure communities have a say.

But new legislation in the Nebraska Unicameral would strip some communities of their local control over wind energy. LB 504 would place a two-year moratorium on wind development in the entire Sandhills region, removing the ability of landowners and communities to responsibly develop wind in a large part of our state.

Communities stand to gain a lot from the development of wind energy: development provides new sources of income for landowners through land-lease payments; new temporary and permanent jobs are created to construct or service projects; and wind development adds new tax revenue to small towns and counties. However, to capture these benefits, developers and local officials need to work with community members to determine the best way to build projects to fit local needs.

By working together, Nebraskans can find a way to work toward reaching our renewable energy potential and realize the benefits that renewables like wind can bring to small towns and rural communities across the state.

Sincerely,

Lu Nelsen, Center for Rural Affairs 

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Lights Out

August 21, 2015 Leave a comment


By U.S. Senator Deb Fischer

Presidents are known for rushing new policies during their last two years in office. Without the pressure of re-election, they begin to focus on their legacies and often aggressively pursue partisan proposals.

 

We have seen this before, and we are seeing it now. What’s new is the scope and consequence of these actions. This month, the Obama administration is targeting our electricity and setting the stage for unprecedented harm to Nebraska families and our economy.

 

On August 3, 2015, President Obama finalized new Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations. This rule, known as the Clean Power Plan, attempts to reduce our state’s carbon emissions by 40 percent through punishing mandates. For Nebraska, this rule is even worse than initially expected. In fact, we are one of the “biggest losers” under the administration’s final rule because the reductions goals for our state are 50 percent more stringent than they were in the proposed rule.

 

The so-called Clean Power Plan is designed to favor certain sources of energy over others by unfairly targeting coal-fired power plants and forcing states to meet new emission requirements. To comply with these regulations, states will be rewarded for showing preference to renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar, and severely punished for using the existing abundance of fossil fuels. We have seen this charade before and the results are always the same. When the government interferes with the free market and innovation, the economy collapses.

 

Nebraska has the distinction of being the nation’s sole 100 percent public power state. Because of this, our citizens understand the dangers of overregulating our electricity system. This is why President Obama’s rule is so alarming: It will effectively shut down many of the existing coal-fired power plants that produce two-thirds of our state’s electricity. The result? Lights out.

Utilities in Nebraska are already expanding and investing in renewable energy sources. Our coal plants are leading the way by incorporating clean coal technology to reduce emissions while boosting our economy. But “one-size-fits-all” mandates from Washington are not the solution.

 

The plan’s negative consequences were illuminated in June by a panel of expert witnesses during a hearing of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. As a member of this committee, I asked the witnesses how the president’s proposed carbon regulations would affect middle- and low-income families, minority communities, and energy-intensive manufacturing operations. They provided sobering accounts of how the EPA’s plan would harm families and how these effects would far outweigh the alleged environmental benefits.

 

To combat the plan, I have joined Senator Shelly Moore Capito of West Virginia to introduce the Affordable Reliable Energy Now Act (ARENA). This bill would halt the damaging effects of the plan by requiring the EPA to demonstrate the viability of its proposal. It would require the EPA to study the rule’s effects at a minimum of six separate power facilities before implementing new mandates. Additionally, ARENA provisions would extend the compliance dates for the EPA’s new regulations until after a final judicial review of the proposal has occurred.

 

Put simply, our legislation will force the EPA to prove the economic benefits of this rule. It will also hold the EPA accountable for the harm this will inflict on Nebraskans and families across the nation.

 

I will continue to oppose this rule’s implementation and protect Nebraska from the administration’s unprecedented power grab. We cannot afford to roll the dice with our economy and the electricity you rely on in your daily life.

 

Thank you for participating in the democratic process. I look forward to visiting with you again next week.

U.S. Senator Deb Fischer

U.S. Senator Deb Fischer

 

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NPPD Moves Past Coal at Sheldon Station

April 18, 2015 Leave a comment


The Center for Rural Affairs released the following statement in response to news that Sheldon Station, the coal-fired power plant north of Hallam, Nebraska is undergoing a major transition from coal to an exciting and innovative power generation technology. Nebraska Public Power District (NPPD), which owns and operates the plant, plans to replace an existing coal-fired boiler at its Sheldon Station plant with one that uses hydrogen fuel. The hydrogen will be produced by Monolith Materials as a co-product from its production of carbon black using natural gas as a feedstock. Plans for the second of two boilers were not made clear.
“We applaud the Nebraska Public Power District’s staff and board of directors for taking steps to invest in a power source that can benefit the local community, while reducing the amount of harmful toxins released into the environment,” said Johnathan Hladik with the Center for Rural Affairs. “This is leadership Nebraska has been waiting for. However, today’s announcement marks only the halfway point. It’s a ‘job half-done.’ We expect NPPD to carry this momentum forward and continue this commitment to rural economic development by investing in the vast resources we have here in Nebraska for energy production, create well-paying jobs for skilled workers, and protect our most vulnerable populations – children and the elderly – from a range of health issues exacerbated by harmful pollutants released by burning coal.”
Research by the Center for Rural Affairs and Synapse Energy Economics shows that continuing to operate Sheldon Station as it has been in the past would have incurred cumulative economic losses of over $1.3 billion by 2042. These are costs that would have been shifted to NPPD’s ratepayer-owners. Continuing to burn coal at both Unit 1 and Unit 2 at Sheldon Station would also have prevented NPPD from investing in the very alternatives, like renewable energy and energy efficiency, that have the potential to produce considerable economic benefits in rural Nebraska.
Center for Rural Affairs findings also show that, Sheldon Station, too old to produce more than 60 percent of the 225 megawatts of energy it was once capable of, is past-due for a transition. The power plant has quickly become a financial liability to NPPD and its ratepayers, becoming operationally uneconomical after 2020.
“Continuing to burn coal at Unit 1 and Unit 2 of Sheldon Station would have required costly updates to protect Nebraskans from exposure to harmful toxins and comply with new environmental regulations,” added Hladik.
The Center’s research predicted that NPPD ratepayers and those in the Lincoln Electric System, which contracts with NPPD for one-third of Sheldon Station’s capacity, would have picked up the tab for hundreds of million of dollars in retrofit capital costs that would be necessary for Sheldon to comply with significant, new environmental requirements.
“NPPD’s announcement at Sheldon Station today begins to reflect the values of many rural Nebraskans, who believe that we have a special responsibility to be good stewards of our natural world: to use only what we need, make smarter choices and pass on to our children the wildlife, water and natural resources we have here in Nebraska,” Hladik continued. “We encourage NPPD to adhere to these principles and seek out public involvement as future decisions are made.”
We are encouraged by the changes that NPPD has announced, and urge continued investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency that benefit rural and small town Nebraskans, and keep electricity affordable, concluded Hladik. Nebraska ranks 7th among the states for energy consumption per capita, and consistently ranks in the bottom third among states for its efforts to use energy more efficiently. Serious investment in energy efficiency will go a long way in keeping NPPD ratepayer-owners’ bills affordable.

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