English (United States)
Brownville, Neb. – Forty years ago, as Nebraskans speculated on the second football season under head coach Tom Osborne and the nation was watching the Watergate scandal unfold, the Nebraska Public Power District officially entered the nuclear age. Cooper Nuclear Station (CNS), three miles outside of Brownville, quietly began commercial operation on July 1, 1974.
CNS employees and their families recognized the anniversary on Wed., July 9, with a safety fair focused on 40 years of safe, reliable operation for Nebraska. Employees manned booths with safety-oriented activities for attendees, and guest speaker and Boys Town Football Coach Kevin Kush motivated the staff to continue its safety legacy.
“Cooper’s employees are always focused on generating the electricity Nebraskans use 24 hours a day, seven days a week, but our primary emphasis is on the safety of staff, communities neighboring the plant, and the environment,” explained CNS Chief Nuclear Officer Oscar Limpias.
Today, CNS has become one of the best performing boiling water nuclear power plants in the country. “The effort put forth by the employees to reach excellence each and every day has contributed to the continuing improvement and success of the facility,” Limpias added.
Over the past 15 years, NPPD has invested more than $500 million in upgrades to the station’s operations and safety systems. By comparison, the original construction cost of CNS was $313 million.
In addition to investments in physical equipment, there have been investments in the employees who work at Cooper.
Training, for example, has transitioned from lectures, blackboards, and textbooks used by the first class of operators to tools such as a control room simulator, a flow-loop simulator, containment structure mock-ups, and hands-on training. Reactor operators are licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and must undergo rigorous testing to keep their licenses up to date. The Institute of Nuclear Power Operation’s National Academy for Nuclear Training evaluates Cooper training programs every four years to ensure they meet the high standards set by the nuclear industry.
The station’s fire brigade conducts special training for other firefighters in the area, and Cooper employs both a security force and an Emergency Response Organization to assist the plant in preparing for and performing exercises that address various emergency situations. Station personnel work with emergency management organizations from Nebraska, Missouri, Iowa, and Kansas to ensure NPPD lives up to its responsibilities as a nuclear power plant owner and operator to protect the health and safety of the public, the plant, and its employees.
The NRC and other federal agencies regulate and test Cooper’s emergency plan, as well as the plant’s security systems. The high training standards, well-qualified staff, and rigorous regulatory oversight are all part of a nuclear safety culture that is unequaled in any other industry or organization and ensure the health and safety of Nebraska and the surrounding states.
Nuclear energy is also America’s largest source of carbon-free electricity, producing no greenhouse gases or air pollutants.
“Forty years ago, our predecessors had the foresight to add a revolutionary generating technology to our portfolio – nuclear,” said NPPD CEO and President Pat Pope. “Cooper is one reason NPPD’s generation portfolio is more than 40 percent carbon free. Our customers continue to benefit from our commitment to meet the electrical needs of our customers, now and in the future, with diverse, low-cost and sustainable energy.”
Cooper Nuclear Station employs approximately 700 workers interwoven into the fabric of numerous communities around southeast Nebraska – Auburn, Nebraska City, Nemaha, Stella, Peru, and Falls City, on the Nebraska side, and Rock Port and Maryville in Missouri, among others. These employees are active in their local schools and civic organizations.
“NPPD is proud of Cooper Nuclear Station, its employees and its performance,” said Pope. “We expect to continue our commitment of providing safe, reliable and emission-free energy another 20 years.”
(Editor’s Note: Attached is a fact sheet containing milestones and numbers from Cooper Nuclear Station.)
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.
