By Peter Maloney, American Public Power Association
Lincoln Electric System (LES) in Nebraska is continuing its Sustainable Energy Program with $1.75 million in incentive funds for customers that want to switch to more energy efficient equipment. LES says that since it began its Sustainable Energy Program (SEP) in 2009, customers have accessed $22.5 million in incentives and spent $126.6 million on energy-efficient equipment and/or services. The incentive level for the SEP program in 2019 was $1.5 million. “It is the eleventh year of the program,” and the utility’s board is “solidly behind it,” and there is no sign of that waning, Marc Shkolnick, LES’ manager of energy services, said. “They see it as a fitting role for a public power provider.” Continue reading here.
Nebraska Also In The News Here
- Invenergy picks IEA to build 250-MW Illinois wind park, Renewables Now
Invenergy is the developer of the Blooming Grove project [in Illinois]. In December 2019, the Chicago-based firm tasked IEA with the construction of its 300-MW Thunderhead wind project in Nebraska, planned to go live in September 2020. “Momentum in wind energy is substantial across more than a dozen states and in several regions of the country, providing IEA both strong demand and geographic diversity,” said JP Roehm, IEA’s CEO. He added that the company expects activity on the wind market to remain “robust” in 2020 and beyond. - Previously Posted: Infrastructure and Energy Alternatives, Inc. Announces Wind Construction Project Award in Nebraska, IEA Press Release, Globe Newswire
- Excelsior Energy Capital Closes on Acquisition and Financing for 109 MW Operating Wind Portfolio From Invenergy, Excelsior Energy Capital News Release, Business Wire
Excelsior, a leading independent North American renewable energy investor, announced today that its North American Renewable Energy Fund (the “Fund”) has closed on the acquisition of 90.1% of Invenergy’s sponsor equity interests in the combined 109-megawatt Prairie Breeze II and Prairie Breeze III projects (the “Projects”), located in Antelope and Boone counties, Nebraska. - Bright Canyon Energy Acquires Ownership Interests in 2 Wind Farms, Tenaska News Release
- Google Inks Huge Corporate Solar-Plus-Storage Deal in Nevada, Greentech Media
NV Energy will provide 350 megawatts of solar and as much as 280 megawatts of battery storage for a new Google data center. [NV Energy is owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway]. - Westminster-Based Power Company Closing Three Coal Facilities, CBS DenverTri-State is an electrical supply cooperative, supplying public power districts and smaller electric co-ops, that owns or operates more than 5,665 miles of high-voltage lines in Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, New Mexico, and Arizona. “Our focus is on making these changes with the care and respect our employees and their communities deserve – easing the transition whenever and wherever possible,” said Duane Highley, chief executive officer of Tri-State.
Large-scale energy buyers are driving the energy landscape shift by collectively voicing their demand for accessible clean energy options to decrease their carbon impacts. In 2018 alone, the group accounted for 6.3 gigawatts in announced renewable energy deals — an amount equal to over 60 percent of all new renewables generation added in the United States last year.
Feeding a growing population and meeting renewable energy demands has brought farmers and solar developers into partnerships centered on land designated for agricultural uses. The wide-open acres of American farmland accounts for just under 
The Project, sited in Saline County in southern Nebraska, will sell its generated energy and Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) into the Southwest Power Pool. Milligan 1 Wind marks the first project for EDF Renewables in Nebraska . . . The expected electricity generated at full capacity is enough to meet the consumption of up to 115,000 average homes.
Upstream Wind Energy Center is currently under construction and scheduled to begin commercial operation in the fourth quarter of 2018, creating more than 240 jobs during construction and up to 11 full-time, permanent jobs once operational. The project will generate approximately $2 million a year for the local economy through tax payments, lease payments to participating landowners, and wages and benefits for employees. With 81 wind turbines, the wind farm will be able to power as many as 68,000 homes and businesses. Read the complete press release