Clean Energy

Clean energy offers a significant opportunity to diversify the rural economy, create new opportunity and address the root cause of climate change.
Nebraska's Energy Future
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Wind energy and other renewable energy will revitilize rural communities rich in energy resources. When the Nebraska legislature held a hearing on wind development, one group of citizens drove 400 miles to testify that for the first time in memory, there was renewed hope for the future of their community. The economics are clear.

To maxmise the impact, there is a critical need for new and upgraded transmission capacity to unlock the renewable energy potential found in rural America. Both our economy and our future depend on moving power from the remote regions of the Great Plains and Upper Midwest to the demand centers that need it most.

Our goal is to better assist landowners and other rural stakeholders to ensure that clean energy transmission is built in an equitable, sustainable way - a way that works best for rural citizens and their communities. Those affected by new transmission will benefit from forming real partnerships with developers and those in the regulatory sphere, relationships that result in greater engagement in planning, new responsiveness to concerns and more equitable compensation models.

For more information on our clean energy transmission database, visit this page.

Clean Energy Notes

 

Opportunity on the Line: Transmission Remains Obstacle to Clean Energy

Posted by Johnathan Hladik Feb 7 2013 - 11:46am

The electric power transmission network was not designed to penetrate lightly populated regions of the Upper Midwest and Great Plains, a region brimming with wind energy potential.  Instead, our grid was designed to connect large, individual generating units with discreet population centers. It is abundantly clear that those states with the greatest wind resources – and therefore the greatest development potential – are leaving a lot on the table when it comes to economic development and energy independence within their respective states. 

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Opportunity on the Line
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Transmission and Teamwork

By Johnathan Hladik on May 5, 2013 - 2:40pm

It’s one thing to talk about the importance of building clean energy transmission to meet the needs of local communities. It’s quite another to put those words into action. This year, the Center for Rural Affairs is doing just that.

We’ve teamed up with grassroots organizations throughout the Upper Midwest to better understand how to enable a new generation of wind projects in a way that works best for you. It’s our job to sit down with community members, work to understand their needs, and help answer their questions.

Energy Project Builds Capacity and Economic Opportunity

By Lucas Nelsen on April 10, 2013 - 1:37pm

Here at the Center for Rural Affairs we spend a lot of time working hard to create economic development opportunity in rural communities. When it comes to energy, we know this opportunity can be realized only if we further develop clean energy transmission infrastructure.

In the Dakotas, they’re doing just that. Big Stone South to Ellendale is a transmission line that will run from a new substation near Big Stone City, SD, to a proposed substation near Ellendale, ND.

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