By Wayne Price

    Affordable electricity benefits all Nebraskans.  In our state a homeowner can meet all of their electrical needs for about $3.53 per day.  This is less than the cost of a drive-thru meal to keep your home at a comfortable temperature, your lights on, and your appliances running.  According to the Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy, the statewide average electricity price is the ninth-lowest rate in the country, based on the latest federal figures. Nationally, electricity costs 25.6 percent more than it does in Nebraska. Across all sectors, Hawaii has the highest electricity rate (30.31 cents), and Idaho has the lowest electricity rate (8.17 cents).
    At a time when prices on everything seem to be climbing, public power remains a great value.  
    Infrastructure upgrades, increased fuel prices, and federal regulation are all driving forces in increasing electric rates.  To keep rates as low as possible, rural public power providers have had to work diligently to keep overhead costs at a minimum.  In fact, Nebraska’s rural electric systems only employ one individual for every 239 customers, and nearly 70 percent of your electric bill is the cost of wholesale power to rural power districts.  This means the delivery of electricity and all of the work necessary to keep your lights on only makes up about 30 percent of your monthly charges.
    Affordable electricity is a great benefit to rural economic development. The lower the energy bill, the more a company can invest in their business and employees.
    Job growth is one measure of the success of economic development efforts. According to the Nebraska Department of Labor, manufacturing employment growth in non-metropolitan Nebraska has increased 7.5 percent since 1990, while the national average has decreased 33.1 percent. Nebraska’s economy is strong and growing. This is due, in part, to Nebraska’s affordable electric rates.
    On a national average, public power rates are lower than those of other investor-owned utility companies. That’s because local, not-for-profit utilities have the power to put their neighbors first. Keeping energy costs affordable serves every community’s long-term needs, and that’s what public power is all about. Locally owned utilities achieve affordability by setting their rates using citizen-controlled boards that hold public meetings.
    Nebraska’s public power model has served us well, and the value of public power is apparent in every small town across the state. Your public power district or electric cooperative is not focused on turning a profit. Instead, they’re helping to make power affordable for you and your neighbors.