Senators Talk PACE, Renewable Energy for Nebraskans

Nebraska senators are hoping people will pick up the pace with energy conservation and renewable energy.

Sen. Ken Haar, Sen. Tyson Larson and Sen. Matt Williams spoke Tuesday at the Broken Bow Middle School about the Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) program that was passed in the last legislative session as part of LR455. The program aims to encourage affordable energy efficiency in homes and businesses. This includes solar panels, energy-efficient furnaces and even windows. About 15 people attended the public hearing.

Nebraska Making Efficiency Push for State-Owned Buildings

Nebraska is making another stride on efficiency, launching an initiative to measure – and eventually reduce – the energy used in buildings throughout the state.

Last month, the federal Department of Energy preliminarily awarded the Nebraska Energy Office $300,000 to begin benchmarking energy use in all 3,762 state-owned buildings. The work is expected to get underway by early 2017.

Nebraska Legislature Advances Bill to Ease Wind Development

The unicameral Nebraska legislature moved LB 824 to its third and final debate and vote by passing it as amended in a 32 to 8 vote and preventing a filibuster by its opponents. The bill will allow developers to more easily build in the wind-rich state and export the electricity to other states.

Nebraska Eases Wind Power Regulations, Some Landowners Have Concerns

The Nebraska Legislature recently passed a bill to ease regulations for wind power.  The change could affect wind energy in the state, but there are still other factors challenging renewable energy projects.

For years Nebraska wind energy proponents have lamented the fact that the state lags so far behind its neighbors in producing wind power. Kansas and Iowa have installed four to five times the amount of wind energy capacity as Nebraska—even though Nebraska is consistently ranked among the top states for wind power potential. A new law seeks to change that.

Senators Introduce Bills to Advance Renewable Energy in Nebraska

State senators announced Friday that they will introduce five bills intended to advance Nebraska's renewable energy industry, increase economic development and provide property tax benefits.

“These bills will help to incentivize growth and investment in Nebraska over surrounding states and also remove barriers to renewable energy development in our state,” said Sen. Jeremy Nordquist, who is sponsoring one of the bills.

Nordquist’s bill would create a Nebraska production tax credit for renewable electric generation facilities and would allow the credit to be transferable. Surrounding states, including Iowa and Oklahoma, already offer a credit against state income tax for each kilowatt hour of electricity that a renewable energy generation facility produces.

OPPD Approves Plan to More than Double Renewable Energy Sources

The Omaha Public Power District has approved a plan to buy 400 megawatts of wind power from a proposed wind farm near O'Neill, Neb.

If all works out, the project would more than double OPPD's portfolio of renewable energy sources.

New Incentivized Sales Tax Exemption For Renewable Energy Development In Nebraska

On June 4, 2013, Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman signed into law a bill (LB104) designed to incentivize the development of renewable energy in the state by exempting certain purchases of renewable energy equipment and other project costs from the state's 5.5 percent sales tax. The bill defines sources of renewable energy to include wind, solar, geothermal, hydroelectric and transmutation of elements. Under the new law, prospective renewable energy developers will be required to invest a minimum of $20 million in qualified property in the state to be eligible for the exemption. Separate proposals to limit the benefit of the exemption to those spending a percentage of project costs using Nebraska-made materials, and to those spending a percentage of gross revenues earned with Nebraska businesses or individuals, both fell flat and are not included in the final law. The bill falls under the Nebraska Advantage Act of 2006 and takes effect immediately.

Heineman Signs Bill to Offer Wind Energy Tax Incentives

Gov. Dave Heineman signed a bill into law Tuesday that will pave the way for a massive wind farm project in Nebraska.

The wind farm bill (LB104) by Omaha Sen. Steve Lathrop will remove a barrier to the development and export of wind energy in Nebraska. It will offer tax incentives that could lead to Nebraska getting a $300 million to $400 million wind farm project by TradeWind Energy of Lenexa, Kan.

Nebraska's new wind law spurs development

Last spring, Nebraska's state legislature passed Bill 1048 to reduce financial and regulatory barriers that prevented renewable energy project devlopers and provide incentives to spur private development of wind farms across the state.

The new law requires at least 90% of power generated to be exported out of state, and at least 10% of the generated energy be offered for sale to Nebraska’s major energy suppliers.

New wind law brings fast action

Hours after it took effect, a new Nebraska state wind-energy law inspired a proposal for a half-billion-dollar wind farm near Elgin, Nebraska.

Invenergy, based in Chicago and the nation’s largest private wind developer, filed an application Thursday morning to build a $448-million wind farm between Elgin and Petersburg in northeast Nebraska. The farm would have 133 wind turbines, generate 200 megawatts of power and sprawl across 45,000 acres, making it the state’s largest wind farm. It would also be the first designed to export power primarily to customers outside the state.

Nebraska adopts new wind law

Nebraska has adopted a new law that will encourage the development of more wind farms in order to export generated power out of state.  The bill, LB 1048, was introduced last year by the Nebraska Legislature’s Natural Resources Committee, and signed into law yesterday by Governor Dave Heineman.