The Nebraska Public Power District held its April 8-9, 2009, Board of Directors’ meeting in Columbus, Neb. The next Board of Directors’ meeting will be held Thursday and Friday, May 14-15, 2009, in Columbus.
Guests at the meeting included Ellen Novak with Loup Valleys Rural Public Power District; Jerry Palmer representing Burt County Public Power District; Bill Hartmann and Tom Sieck with Seward County Public Power District; and Bruce Pontow of the Nebraska Electric G&T.
The 2008 Audit Report conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers was accepted by the Board and the 2008 Annual Report was approved.
The Board approved the following nuclear capital project: reheat stop and intercept valve refurbishment project at Cooper Nuclear Station (CNS) for $200,000.
The following contracts and engineer’s certificates were acted on for Cooper Nuclear Station:
- Amendment with Science Applications International Corporation for $179,994, to provide labor and materials for the relocation of a site meteorological tower;
- Approved an engineer’s certificate for a high pressure turbine inspection and associated valve maintenance for the fall 2009 refueling outage to be conducted by Siemens Energy, Inc., for an estimated amount of $3,300,000 plus performance bond costs;
- Agreement with Bartlett Nuclear, Inc. for an estimated amount of $5,519,147 for radiological protection technician staff augmentation through May of 2011;
- Agreement with Conco Systems, Inc. for an estimated amount of $441,607 for the fall 2009 refueling outage main condenser and heat exchanger testing and inspection;
- Agreement with Areva NP, Inc. for fuel sipping inspection services at an estimated amount $348,000;
- Task authorization with Stevenson & Associates for an estimated amount of $160,000 for the engineering analysis of the main steam line piping support system;
- Agreement with GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy Americas, LLC for engineering analysis for safety relief valve capabilities at a cost of $190,700; and
- An Agreement with Proto-Power Corporation for engineering design services for a supplemental diesel generator at an estimated amount of $1,765,000.
The Board approved the purchase of a section of land adjacent to Sheldon Station for $132,841.
The Board also approved the following items for Energy Supply:
- A contract with Square D to replace thirty-three 7.2-kilovolt (kV) switchgear breakers with fused vacuum contactors at Gerald Gentleman Station (GGS) at a price of $778,000;
- A contract with Brand Energy Solutions, LLC for an estimated amount of $1,299,971 for scaffolding services at GGS and Canaday Station.
Action was also taken on the Domestic Energy Research and Application Initiative Project for the investigation of alternative combustion technology at a cost of $20,000.
The Board accepted NPPD’s February financial statements. Traci Bender, vice president and chief financial officer, reported that the District ended February with a surplus of $1.3 million. The year-to-date surplus through the end of February is $5.3 million.
The Board passed a resolution to revise the District’s Large Industrial Service, retroactive to March 1, 2009. The Board also approved the purchase of a surety to cover NPPD’s share of the annual operations and maintenance costs for the Nebraska City 2 Power Plant, as required by the participation agreement with Omaha Public Power District.
The Board approved the following capital projects for Customer Services and Delivery: a 115-kV transmission line refurbishment between Loup City and North Loup for $1,695,883; transmission line clearance corrections for the Alda to Grand Island substation for $153,700; and telecommunications work on the ETR project at various locations for $171,465.
The Board also approved the following Customer and Support Services items:
- Rejected bids for transmission line right-of-way tree clearing and vegetation control and voted to reevaluate the approach to completing the work;
- A contract with Michels Power, a division of Michels Corporation, for an estimated $1,530,330 for the 115-kV transmission line refurbishment between the Johnson 2 substation and McCook as well as the transmission line between North Loup and Loup City;
- A $188,860 contract with Midwest Automation, Inc., for $188,860 for control panels at the Humboldt substation;
- A contract with TESSCO Utility Services, Inc., for $262,030 for the construction activities at the Harbine switching station;
- A contract with Dutton-Lainson Company for transmission conductor for the transmission line between the Steele City and Harbine substations at an estimated cost of $621,812 for;
- A contract for 800 115-kV horizontal line post insulators, purchased from Kriz-Davis Co., for $268,800;
- A contract amendment for $2,906,864 with The L.E. Myers Co., for 345-kV transmission line construction of the East Central Nebraska (ETR) project; and
- An agreement for on-site medical testing services provided to Cooper Nuclear Station, Sheldon Station, and Beatrice Power Station by Auburn Family Health Center for an estimated $135,000.
The Board recognized the retirement of Bradley D. Blake, System Operator at the Control Center in Doniphan.

