NPPD Informational Forums On Decarbonization Aug. 11-18

What should  Nebraska Public Power District’s carbon reduction initiatives look like in the future?

End-use customers of NPPD, and its wholesale public power partners (rural power districts and municipalities), can play a role in making that determination through a series of informational forums to be held during August.  Five forums are planned that will address the following topics: a high-level educational presentation on electricity today and into the future; what NPPD’s current generation mix looks like; what decarbonization is; and, factors to consider with decarbonization.  Additionally, the forums will include a public comment period for further public input on the topics and promote a public survey that will also be available online.

NPPD’s Board of Directors is seeking to better understand their constituents’ opinions in three areas:  1) the risks associated with being a carbon emitting utility; 2) what NPPD’s carbon reduction goal should be; and 3) what principals (cost, environmental, reliability, resilience) are most important to customers  as NPPD works to reduce its carbon emissions.

“This is an opportunity for NPPD’s Board members to hear the thoughts of end-use customers who get their electric bill from NPPD, or from a rural wholesale public power utility, or wholesale municipality,” said NPPD President and CEO Tom Kent. “NPPD is continually transforming how we do business to power a sustainable future for Nebraska while keeping electricity affordable, reliable and resilient. We are looking at what our carbon reduction goal should be. Feedback from the public is part of that process in moving forward.”

The forum sessions will begin at 6 p.m. at each of the following  locations:

  • Aug. 11- Norfolk, Northeast Community College, Lifelong Learning Center, Rooms H & I, 801 East Benjamin Ave.
  • Aug. 12 – Seward, Concordia University, Janzow Campus Center, Cattle Conference Room, 800 N. Columbia Ave
  • Aug. 16 – North Platte, Mid-Plains Community College. Room 202 and 204, 1101 Halligan Dr.,
  • Aug. 17- Scottsbluff, Western Nebraska Community College, Harms Center Plex, 601 East 28th St.
  • Aug. 18- Kearney, Holiday Inn, Ballroom II, 110 Second Ave.

“We have engaged the services of subject matter experts from the Electric Power Research Institute in developing the education material to present to attendees to provide them an inside look at various segments of the electric industry, today, and into the future, focusing on decarbonization issues from all points,” Kent added. “Two key presentations will be made at each forum. One focused on priorities of electricity service and the impacts on cost, environmental impacts, reliability, and resilience and the second on the business risk of carbon and decarbonization.”

EPRI conducts research, development, and demonstration projects for the benefit of the public in the United States and internationally. As an independent, nonprofit organization for public interest, energy, and environmental research, they focus on electricity generation, delivery, and use in collaboration with the electricity sector, its stakeholders, and others to enhance the quality of life by making electric power safe, reliable, affordable, and environmentally responsible.

The survey will be available online, for public use, at nppd.com Aug. 11 through Sept. 1. Feedback from the question and answer sessions and the survey will be analyzed by EPRI and the MSR Group and presented to the Board in October for further evaluation.

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