English (United States)
BROKEN BOW, Neb. — Construction of a new wind farm capable of producing enough energy to meet the needs of about 25,000 homes in Nebraska was announced by Edison Mission Group (EMG), a subsidiary of Edison International (NYSE:EIX), Midwest Wind Energy, LLC (MWE) and Nebraska Public Power District (NPPD).
The $145 million wind project, known as Broken Bow Wind LLC, is located in central Nebraska, approximately three miles northeast of the city of Broken Bow in Custer County. The project, which will be 100 percent owned and operated by EMG, will be capable of generating up to approximately 80 megawatts (MW) of electricity. All of the power produced by Broken Bow will be sold to NPPD under a 20-year power purchase agreement.
“We are pleased to be building our third wind energy project in Nebraska,” said Pedro Pizarro, president of EMG. “The state is able to attract investment in clean energy thanks to its plentiful wind resources, along with its legislative and regulatory climate that supports the development of renewable energy projects. We are also very pleased to expand our relationship with Nebraska Public Power District with this most recent project.”
“The addition of Broken Bow Wind, LLC, moves NPPD closer to our board of directors goal of having 10 percent of our energy come from renewable energy,” said NPPD President and CEO Pat Pope. “The energy produced will be shared with other Nebraska utilities as we have done at other EMG wind farms.” NPPD is working with Omaha Public Power District, Lincoln Electric System, Municipal Energy Agency of Nebraska and the City of Grand Island as partners in the project.
“The Broken Bow wind farm would not have been possible without the leadership of NPPD and the support of our participating landowners and the Broken Bow community,” said Stefan Noe, president of MWE, which develops potential wind projects under an agreement with EMG. “This is the fourth project that MWE has successfully developed with EMG in two states,
Nebraska and Illinois. It is yet another example of how public power, private developers and the local community can work together to create a win-win situation for renewable energy and economic development despite the challenging economy.”
Construction of Broken Bow is scheduled to be completed by November of 2012. During its peak construction phase, the project will employ approximately 100 individuals at the site. During construction, the project is expected to contribute $5.6 million to the state in sales tax revenues.
Once completed, the wind farm will provide average annual tax revenues of nearly $900,000 over its 25-year life in property taxes and state income taxes. In addition, Broken Bow will generate an average of $540,000 per year over its 25-year life in lease royalties to local landowners. The wind farm will provide approximately 10 permanent jobs in the Broken Bow area.
The facility will be powered by 50 wind turbines, each capable of producing 1.6 MW of power at peak output. The turbines will be mounted on 80-meter high towers. The wind farm site occupies approximately 14,000 acres of land. NPPD began conducting wind studies in the Broken Bow area in 2008, with the development of the site by the MWE/EMG team beginning in 2009 after being awarded a power purchase agreement by NPPD.
EMG operates two other wind farms in Nebraska which also sell their output to NPPD – the approximately 80 MW Elkhorn Ridge wind farm near Bloomfield in Knox County, and the approximately 80 MW Laredo Ridge wind farm near Petersburg in Boone County. The Elkhorn Ridge facility began operation in 2009 and is majority-owned by EMG, with one-third owned by Nebraska employee-owners of Tenaska, a privately held energy company headquartered in Omaha. Laredo Ridge, which is 100 percent owned and operated by EMG, was commissioned in November of 2010. Once the new Broken Bow wind farm is operational, approximately 5 percent of NPPD’s total power portfolio will come from wind energy generated by the EMG wind projects, along with NPPD’s Ainsworth Wind Energy Facility.
About Edison Mission Group
EMG is the seventh largest developer of wind energy projects in the U.S., with a portfolio of 30 projects and more than 1,900 megawatts of wind power capacity in operation or under construction in 11 states. The company has a pipeline of approximately 3,900 megawatts of potential, additional projects. With offices in Santa Ana, Calif., EMG manages the competitive power generation business of Edison International, an electric power generator and distributor, and an investor in infrastructure and renewable energy projects.
About Nebraska Public Power District
Nebraska Public Power District is Nebraska’s largest electric utility, with a chartered territory including all or parts of 91 of Nebraska’s 93 counties. NPPD is a public corporation and political subdivision of the state of Nebraska. NPPD's mission is to safely generate and deliver reliable, low-cost sustainable energy and provide outstanding customer service. Working in partnership with the state's rural public power districts, cooperatives and municipalities, NPPD helps serve an estimated one million Nebraskans with retail or wholesale electric power and energy-related products and services.
About Midwest Wind Energy
Midwest Wind Energy, LLC is a leading developer of wind power projects in the Midwest region with a proven track record of successful projects. Since its inception, MWE has developed eight projects totaling 728 megawatts that are either in operation or under construction. MWE further has an additional project development portfolio of well over 1,500 megawatts in varying stages of development.
When are rates set?
NPPD rates are reviewed annually, and any proposed rate changes are normally approved during NPPD’s December Board of Directors Meeting.
Will my bill be higher this month because of the cold weather and rolling outages?
Most NPPD customers can expect to see a higher monthly electricity bill this month due to the recent cold weather event which caused customers to have higher usage. A higher bill would not be the result of a rate increase however because the rates did not change.
Does my NPPD rate change throughout the year?
When proposing a rate change, NPPD typically sets and approves rates during the December Board of Directors Meeting. The rates that are approved go into effect February 1 of the next year.
The only other time NPPD’s rates change during the year is when the higher summer rates automatically go into effect for the months of June through September. Aside from this, any increase or decrease in your bill is likely tied to increased energy usage during severe cold or hot weather.
NPPD retail rates have remained steady with no overall increase in eight years.
How will February’s cold temperatures and rolling outages impact my rates in future years?
The financial impact of the most recent historic polar vortex events as it relates to rates are unclear at the present time. Many factors, including future weather impacts, load growth, and the cost to generate and deliver electricity will impact NPPD’s financial position and rates.
How will cold temperatures and rolling outages impact my monthly bill?
Simply put, if you use more electricity than “normal” you will have a higher bill. Rates have not changed. Think of it as a consistently priced fuel, that never fluctuates in price per gallon. If you need to fill up more often, it will require a larger amount of product, and as a result you have higher costs.
Does it take more energy and cost more to lower my thermostat now, only to raise it later to regain warmth?
This is a myth that many have heard for years. Contrary to belief, your system will operate for longer periods to recover and heat pump systems may switch to supplemental or auxiliary heat, but overall energy use is reduced if the setback occurs over at least a few hours.
NPPD operators at our control center handle increases and decreases in load and train for these situations. The operators refer to this as the Cold Load Effect. When customers are returned to service from a long outage, there can be a sharp increase in electricity usage that must be accounted for. As motors begin to start when the load is energized and more equipment powers on than was previously when the customer was interrupted. This means, when there are several customers experiencing an outage at the same time, operators need to consider the load when the circuit is restored can be higher than when it was interrupted. The longer a circuit is interrupted, the more pronounced the Cold Load Effect will be.
In the case of this most recent event, homes were using heat so consistently during the day and the interruptions were short enough that there was no significant change in electricity usage when one circuit was brought back online and another was turned off. During the rolling blackouts, when one group of customers was experiencing an outage, a new set of customers would betaken offline before the first group was returned to service. This helped ensure that there were no spikes in electricity usage that would have a negative impact on the generation and load balance.
Who can I contact for assistance with payment arrangements for my NPPD bill, or information on assistance agencies?
Payment arrangements can be arranged by contacting NPPD at 1-877-ASK-NPPD.
Those in need should also contact NPPD at the above listed number for more information and a listing of energy assistance from local agencies.
What is a rolling blackout outage?
Rolling blackouts, also known as rotating outages, are controlled, temporary interruptions of the electrical service directed by the Southwest Power Pool (SPP). These outages can occur when electricity generating resources cannot meet the electricity demand in the region. NPPD and others must reduce demand in an amount directed by SPP and act upon this within minutes.
When is a rolling blackout necessary?
Rolling blackouts are necessary as a last resort to maintain the reliability of the electrical grid system. SPP directs rotating outages when electricity generating resources cannot meet the electrical demand in the region. They rotate or roll to different systems and areas so we can all absorb a short outage at different times versus a long outage for one specific area.
The recent situation was extraordinary and an unprecedented chain of events, including historic low temperatures across the entire SPP footprint, lack of wind generation, reduced amounts of natural gas because of frozen wells and sky rocking natural gas prices. A situation never seen before in this region since SPP was founded.
Why was there little notice before power was shut off to some customers?
Just like many of our retail and wholesale customers, NPPD received the emergency notices from SPP with little warning, requiring us to load shed with just a few minutes to act.
NPPD did our best in this emergent situation to communicate not only to our large industrial and residential retail customers, but also with as many wholesale customers as we could. This was done with a press release, via emails, regularly scheduled wholesale customer meetings throughout the event, and using social media. Unfortunately, with the short timeframe not all customers were able to be reached before some outages began.
We continue to evaluate and review the events of this situation and will look for ways to learn and improve our process, should it ever be needed again.
Is there an easy way to track my energy usage?
Tracking your energy usage can easily be done by downloading NPPD’s mobile application, “NPPD On The Go!”. Download by searching “NPPD” in the Google Play or Apple App store. Then click “Register” and have your account number, service address zip code, and phone number ready. Finally complete the account information.
What are the benefits of using “NPPD On The Go!”?
Who and what is Southwest Power Pool (SPP)?
NPPD is a member of the Southwest Power Pool (SPP), a non-profit regional transmission organization in the central part of the United States. SPP is mandated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to ensure customers in the region receive reliable power, adequate transmission infrastructure and competitively priced electricity. SPP and its members coordinate the flow of electricity across more than 65,000 miles of high-voltage transmission lines spanning 14 states.
Why is it important to have a diverse energy mix?
NPPD believes a diverse generation mix serves our customers best. We use wind -- when it is available. We use coal -- which is reliable and helps keep electric rates low. We use water -- one of the oldest forms of renewable energy. We use nuclear -- which offers emission-free, around-the-clock power. We use natural gas -- to complement the portfolio.
NPPD’s diverse energy generation mix helps keep our electricity reliable and keep rates as low as possible.
Public power, as it always does, answered the call to help protect the bulk electric system which serves the central portion of the country and is part of the larger Eastern Interconnect. The system requires real-time balancing of generation and load. In doing so, we also protected our customers from more detrimental, long-term blackouts.
All of NPPD’s plants were available to SPP during this emergency event. They performed as beautifully during the emergency as our NPPD teammates who worked around the clock to manage the safety, health and financial risk for our customers.
