The NPPD Tech One Substation, (Brian Neben, Central Nebraska Today)
COLUMBUS — Nebraska Public Power District’s (NPPD) board of directors approved a two percent rate increase for retail rates and no overall increase for wholesale rates for 2025, during Thursday’s regularly scheduled meeting.
The average residential retail customer uses around 1,000 kilowatts of electricity a month, and based on this amount, a residential customer would experience an increase of approximately $3.25 per month.
NPPD benchmarks its retail rate using data from U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), who collected data from over 2,600 utilities across the nation. According to finalized EIA data for 2023, NPPD continues to meet the goal to maintain a total retail base rate position among the lowest 15 percent of providers, with the most recent ranking finishing at 5.2 percent.
“We are incredibly proud of the stable rates we have provided our retail customers over the past eleven years, and the ability to continue serving our customers with some of the most affordable and reliable power in the country, with our retail rates sitting at approximately 45 percent below the national average.” said NPPD General Manager of Retail Services Pat Hanrahan. “Similar to other utilities across the country, NPPD continues to experience cost pressures related to inflation, supply chain constraints, material cost increases, and increases to fleet and facility costs. All factors driving the need for an increase to retail base rates.”
NPPD’s board also approved wholesale rates for 2025. While there are increases and decreases in individual demand and energy rate components that will impact customers differently depending upon their electric usage characteristics, there is no overall wholesale base rate increase for the eighth straight year. In addition, the NPPD Board of Directors has voted to provide approximately $53 million to wholesale customers in the form of a Production Cost Adjustment (PCA) credit. This is the seventh consecutive year that NPPD’s wholesale customers will receive a PCA credit.
“We are at an exciting time in our industry, where we are seeing growing load and a growing interest in industries coming to areas all over Nebraska,” noted NPPD President and CEO Tom Kent. “Affordable, reliable electricity is essential to drawing and supporting these businesses, which can provide great economic benefits to many of our state’s communities and complement our agriculture industry. Public power has brought tremendous value to our state and will continue to do so through low rates and reliable service.”
In 2016, NPPD began benchmarking its wholesale rates against others in the nation, utilizing a database maintained by the National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corporation (CFC). The large group includes more than 800 electric utilities which purchase wholesale power. NPPD’s Board of Directors set a goal to be in the first quartile – which is at or below the 25 percentile for power cost. NPPD first achieved this goal in 2020 by reaching the 23.2 percentile and has remained in the lowest quartile since. The rankings for 2023 placed NPPD at the 16.7 percentile.
