The Nebraska Public Power District held its June 12-13, 2008, Board of Directors’ meeting in Columbus, Neb. The next Board of Directors’ meeting will be held Thursday and Friday, July 10-11, 2008, in Columbus.

Guests at the meeting included: Jerry Palmer with Burt County Public Power District; Paul Bodlak, Larry Silhacek and Mark Shults with Northeast Nebraska Public Power District; Roy Reinke and Maxine Reinke of Columbus; and Eric Freeman of the Columbus Telegram.

The Board approved the following capital projects for Cooper Nuclear Station: control room annunciator project for $675,000 and security microwave project for $166,000.

The following contracts and engineer’s certificates related to Cooper Nuclear Station were also approved:

• Resolution on nuclear fuel materials procurement strategy;
• Resolution for the purchase of nuclear fuel materials;
• Amendment with TriVis, Inc., for an estimated amount of $195,000 for independent spent fuel storage installation project staff augmentation;
• Amendment with Rocky Mountain Engineering for an estimated amount of $240,000 for independent spent fuel storage installation project construction manager staff augmentation services.

The Board approved one energy supply capital project for the removal, refurbishment and installation of generators at the Ainsworth Wind Energy Facility for $550,000.

Other Energy Supply items approved included:

• Amendment with Ames Construction for the track expansion project at Gerald Gentleman Station (GGS) for $221,190;
• Engineer’s Certificate for a switch point indicator signal system at GGS with Union Pacific Railroad Company for $113,338;

The Board also approved the following Domestic Energy Research and Application Initiative Projects: pressurized fluid bed combustion supply; Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) compressed air energy storage demonstration project; and a hybrid diesel electric bucket truck upgrade.

The Board accepted the April 2008 financial statements. Traci Bender, vice president and chief financial officer, reported that the District ended April with a surplus of $0.9 million. The year-to-date deficit through the end of April is $0.2 million.

The following items were approved for Customer & Support Services:

• Wholesale Customer Generation Rate Schedules effective August 1, 2008;
• The amendment of the CNS decommissioning Funding Plan;
• The renewal of the commercial paper credit agreement with Bank of Nova Scotia for a three-year term expiring in August of 2011;
• Reimbursement resolution for the Electric Transmission Reliability (ETR) Project, Phase II;

The Board approved the following capital projects for customer services and delivery: replace three breakers at the Columbus Hydro for $848,750; 69 kV line upgrade between Shelton and Wood River for $806,800; construction of a new 69 kV substation at O’Neill for $483,695; add sub-transmission line terminations at O’Neill for $107,953; replacement breaker at Neligh for $200,554; and the replacement of the Axtell 345 kV breaker for $600,000.

Other items approved included:

• Contract for lattice steel structures with Falcon Steel Company for $158,212;
• Contract for 15 kV class air core shunt reactors with Trench Limited for $147,000;
• Contract for 236,010 feet of “DRAKE” ACSR conductor with General Cable Corporation for $433,586;
• Contract for the Grand Island 230 kV substation expansion with IES Industrial, Inc., doing business as Kayton Electric, for $246,726;
• Contract for the Columbus East construction grading with B-D Construction, Inc., for $284,690;
• Contract for 6,290 electricity meters to be installed in Plattsmouth and South Sioux City, awarded in two parts to Graybar Electric Company for a total of $116,797 and Dutton-Lainson Company for a total of $551,098;
• Contract for 69/34.5 kV power transformer for the O’Neill/Inman substation to Delta Star, Inc., for $623,672;
• Contract for 115/13.8 kV power transformers for North Bend substation to Delta Star, Inc., for $672,810;
• Contract for 34.5/13.8 kV power transformer for Lexington/Walnut Substation with Delta Star, Inc., for $702,973;
• Resolution to authorize payment for the relocation of wholesale customers’ (Seward County Public Power District, Butler Public Power District, and Loup Public Power District) existing electric facilities to accommodate routing of the Electric Transmission Reliability project;
• Agreement with Hawkeye Helicopter, LLC, for the patrol of all 4,606 miles of District transmission lines for $257,765;
• Task Authorization for consulting services for the Norfolk Operations Facility, awarded to HDR Engineering, Inc., for $470,446;

The Board approved modifications to the Hospital/Medical Plan for surviving dependents of employees.

The Board recognized the retirements of Roger G. King, Journey Line Technician at McCook; Eugene A. Mandery, Mechanic at Sheldon Station; Robert J. Velie, Nuclear Instructor at Cooper Nuclear Station; Steve E. Blake, Entergy Loanee at Cooper Nuclear Station; and Ralph E. Olson, Engineering Technician at the Columbus General Office.

A public hearing was held by the Board on three standards to be considered under the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA), including Net Metering, Fuel Sources, and Fossil Fuel Generation Efficiency.

Public hearing attendees included: M.J. Keating of Kearney; Martin Kleinschmit with the Center for Rural Affairs; Ron Hostetter representing Cornhusker Public Power District; Danny Kluthe with Olean Energy; and Deb Yocum, USDA Rural Development.