Electric Rate Focused on New, Expanding Business

A new electric rate offered by Nebraska Public Power District is designed to encourage expanding and new businesses to locate in its service area or the service areas of its wholesale customers.

The new wholesale economic development rate took effect May 1, 2012 and offers eligible prospective or expanding customers a discounted electric rate for up to five years.

To qualify for the rate the customer must meet the following criteria:

•  Have a projected new or additional electrical load of 10 megawatts or greater
•  Have a minimum monthly load factor of 75 percent
•  Hold a contract with the State of Nebraska to receive economic development incentives under the Nebraska Advantage Act—a state economic development program that establishes criteria such as investment, job creation, etc.

“NPPD currently has surplus base load capacity and energy, which we sell into the wholesale energy market,” said President and CEO Pat Pope. “Selling this baseload energy instead to a new, in-state, high load factor customer at a price in excess of NPPD’s incremental production costs benefits both new and existing customers.”

The new wholesale economic development rate is expected to allow NPPD’s retail electric utility distributors the ability to offer a rate of 4.5 cents a kilowatt-hour or less.

“Electricity-intensive customers have told us they will not even consider locating in our service area if such an economic development rate is not available,” said Pope. “This truly is a short-term rate solution with a long-term advantage for NPPD and all of our customers,” said Pope.

For more information about NPPD rates and services, visit www.nppd.com.

Always there when you need us, 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.