Rhea Landholm, brand marketing and communications manager, rheal@cfra.org or 402.687.2100 ext. 1025
Lyons, Nebraska - On Thursday, July 21, a coalition of environmental and energy advocates including the Center for Rural Affairs, will host a community discussion on practical, commonsense ideas that provide Nebraska communities with more opportunities in our state’s energy future.
The event is free and open to the public. The discussion will focus on our current power system in Nebraska, renewable energy, electricity transmission, energy efficiency, ideas for community renewable energy projects and funding for such projects. And everyone attending is encouraged to bring their own ideas as well. The Community Conversation with kick off with a panel of featured participants, and then the floor will be open for group conversations.
"We are looking forward to continuing the conversation that was begun by the Norfolk Daily News with their Community Conversation back in May. The issues surrounding Nebraska's energy future are big issues to grapple with, with long-term ramifications,” said Lauren Kolojejchick-Kotch with the Center for Rural Affairs. “And we believe that the more people we get involved in these discussions, the more voices that we hear from, the better prepared our state will be to make the best decisions."
WHAT: Community Conversation on Nebraska’s Energy Future
WHEN: Thursday, July 21st, 2016 from 6:30 ~ 8:30 p.m.
WHERE: Northeast Community College, Lifelong Learning Center, 701 E Benjamin Ave., Norfolk, NE 68701
“This is an important time to share your questions, ideas, and thoughts about Nebraska’s energy future,” added Kolojejchick-Kotch. “Right now the Nebraska Energy Office, Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality, and our Public Power Districts are hard at work planning for Nebraska's energy future. The Nebraska Energy Office and these agencies have been tasked with putting together a comprehensive State Energy Plan that looks at the cost of fuel, future customer growth, where we currently get our power from, future generation options, and environmental regulations. The final plan will likely include recommendations for future energy investments and other decisions regarding our public power system.”
Kolojejchick-Kotch continued, “These decisions will affect all Nebraskans. This means we all should have a say when it comes to the decisions involved in keeping our lights on. At the same time, Nebraska’s Public Power system is unique, as the only publicly owned state run electric utility system in the nation. Customer-owners from around the state not only deserve to be a part of process to develop a state energy plan, but to weigh in on the priorities of our Public Power Districts. If you want to see greater investment in energy efficiency, this is a time to share that interest.”
This event is hosted by the Clean Energy Nebraska coalition. Our goal is to gain feedback from customer-owners that we can take back to our state’s capital and discuss with law and policy makers in our legislature and other state agencies.
