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Tom Kent named new NPPD President, CEO

March 12, 2020

Columbus, Neb. – Current Nebraska Public Power District Executive Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer Thomas Kent was officially named as President and Chief Executive Officer of the utility, following approval by the Board of Directors Thursday.

A native of Tilden, Neb., Kent has been with the utility for 30 years, including the last nine years in his current position. He replaces Pat Pope who announced in February he was stepping down from his position at the end of April and will focus on e-connectivity and future generation strategies for NPPD as a special assistant to the CEO.

“It’s an honor to be selected by the Board to serve as the next CEO of NPPD. I have been very fortunate over my career to work in many parts of the District, and I have experienced first-hand the talent and dedication of my teammates across the state to providing low-cost, highly reliable energy and outstanding service to our customers,” Kent remarked after the Board’s decision.

“The strength of public power is our direct accountability to our customers through a publicly elected Board of Directors. NPPD, under the guidance of our Board, CEO Pope, and previous CEOs, has delivered outstanding results for our fellow Nebraskans for 50 years. I look forward to leading this talented team as we continue to transform our organization to meet the changing needs of our customers for the next 50 years and beyond.

“As board members, we have had the opportunity to observe Tom’s knowledge, leadership and integrity and the Board’s executive committee felt strongly that he is the right person to succeed Pat Pope,” commented NPPD Board Chair Barry DeKay. “We believe it is important to develop leadership internally so that we have potential successors who know our organization, our culture, our customers and our employees. Tom brought us these attributes.’

During the past nine years Kent has provided executive leadership over NPPD’s non-nuclear operations and has overseen more than $700 million of new investment in NPPD’s transmission system. He also serves as the District’s Chief Electric Reliability Compliance Officer accountable for compliance with the North American Electric Reliability Corporation reliability and cyber-security standards.

A key effort during his recent tenure was leading a negotiating team responsible for attracting Monolith Materials to Nebraska. That operation will become the largest electrical load in the state when fully operational and will provide an opportunity for NPPD to reduce carbon emissions by approximately 10% by using hydrogen produced in Monolith’s manufacturing process as a fuel for generating electricity.

“The move by Monolith Materials to Nebraska is certainly an economic driver for the state,” Kent commented, noting that the first unit of that facility is nearing completion and will soon be in operation. “Our next step in this process is to complete the design and engineering of the conversion at Sheldon Station and eventually begin operations where hydrogen is used as a fuel in generating electricity and replacing coal.”

Prior to his recent position, Kent was the Transmission and Distribution Manager and also the Corporate Planning and Risk Manager. He has held numerous positions across the District in Columbus, Scottsbluff, Ogallala and at Cooper Nuclear Station. Kent is a veteran of the US Navy having served as an instructor at the Naval Nuclear Power School. He is also a graduate of the Reactor Technology Course for Utility Executives through the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

He is a registered professional electrical engineer in the State of Nebraska and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering and a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He recently chaired the Southwest Power Pool’s Holistic Integrated Tariff Team and serves on the Members Committee and Human Resources Committee. He currently is the Chair of the Board of Directors of the Midwest Reliability Organization and serves on the Board of Directors of RMEL, an energy trade association.

Away from the industry, Kent is an active volunteer with the Mid-America Council of the Boy Scouts of America, where he was awarded the Silver Beaver Award for distinguished service to youth and serves on the Council Board of Directors.

He and his wife, Dacia, reside in Columbus.

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!”?

  • Fast, easy and secure way to view and pay your bill.
  • View monthly usage and comparison to previous usage.
  • Monitor active outages and report unexpected outages.
  • Direct access to customer support through your mobile device.
  • Request new service or stop current service.
  • Sign up for outage, billing, and usage notifications.

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.

Tom Kent