I think I'm hyperventilating.

Here at the Center for Rural Affairs, we like wind power.  And it has been a source of constant dismay that Nebraska's power generating sector has consistently opposed wind power development, and when public outcry has led them to (finally) accept the least bit of public policy supporting wind power, they have worked to undermine such policy as well.  For example, the sector has always opposed a real net metering laws- laws that would allow individuals to sell electricity back to the electrical grid (excess electricity from a wind turbine, etc).  Nebraska remains one of eight states that has no net metering law at all; last year a net metering law was supported by the power companies, but was so weak that it would have been mere window-dressing (it was opposed by Nebraska renewable energy advocates).

Given that Nebraska is sixth in the nation in wind energy potential, you may wonder why this is the case.  The short answer is "public power".  Nebraska remains the only state in the nation that is 100% public power- no private utilities here.  The Nebraska Public Power District (NPPD) is the largest utility in the state, and there are a few others, such as the Omaha Public Power District.  These districts are government agencies, run by elected boards.  Despite this governing structure, which we philosophically support and would seem to offer real opportunities, NPPD has consistently refused to embrace renewable energy.  Until this week, for example, they absolutely refused to accept any numerical goal for electricity from renewable sources.

Well, the Nebraska Public Power District has announced that it will produce 10% of its electricity from renewable resources... by 2020.  You'll excuse me if I'm a bit underwhelmed.  Simply put, that's a pitiful amount.  As mentioned above, Nebraska ranks sixth in the nation in wind potential, with 868 billion kilowatts/hour of potential.  The new NPPD goal assume 430 megawatts by 2020.  To put it into better perspective, Texas, the state with the second-most wind potential has 5,317 megawatts installed right now.  Iowa and Minnesota, both states with less wind potential than Nebraska, have nearly 1,300 megawatts of installed wind capacity each.  That's not planned installations; that's wind turbines on the ground today, producing electricity.  For Nebraska to install only 430 megawatts over the next 12 years is just pathetic.  Are they seriously proposing that we take TWELVE YEARS to reach A THIRD of Iowa's current wind energy total?

It's just too much to handle all in one blog post.  I'm going to have to take a deep breath and approach the rest of this later.