The city considered an agreement with Nebraska Public Power District to allow the utility to negotiate with renewable energy developers the city may not want to deal with.
During the Seward City Council’s Oct. 3 meeting, Chad Podolak of NPPD said, as per its contract with the city, Seward can use renewable energy for 10 percent of its power.
The city’s 1.7 kilowatt wind turbine, which is under construction, would provide roughly 8.5 percent of the city’s power.
However, Podolak said if a developer wants to build renewable power sources for the city and is certified under the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA), the city would be required to let the developer interconnect to the city’s system, energize the development if it uses electricity and pay full-avoided costs.
Podolak said full-avoided costs is what the city avoided buying from NPPD and is related to fuel costs.
The agreement with NPPD would allow the utility to deal with these PURPA certified developers on the city’s behalf.
“This is just protection against developers who don’t play nice,” Podolak said.
Podolak said if NPPD deals with the PURPA developer, it would pay the avoided costs, which would be a fraction of what the cost would have been to the city, as its avoided cost is just fuel. The city’s avoided cost would include fuel, generation and delivery of electricity.
Podolak said if the city signs this waiver and decides to work with a renewable energy developer, that project would not receive PURPA certification. This would allow the city to negotiate with the developer on its own.
During discussion on the topic at the council meeting, Matt Robinette of Bluestem Energy Solutions, which is building the city’s wind turbine, said that project is PURPA certified.
Podolak said existing projects are exempt from this waiver.
However, Councilmember Chris Schmit was concerned the exemption was not specifically in the contract. Instead, it was in a separate document.
Robinette said Bluestem attorneys had similar concerns.
City Attorney Kelly Hoffschneider said he had not developed a full opinion on the agreement NPPD presented.
The board tabled the discussion until its next meeting, which is Oct. 17, although the board may hold a special meeting to discuss this topic as well as its comprehensive plan.
Podolak said NPPD plans to file all its contracts with Nebraska municipalities at once, as filing can be expensive. NPPD plans to file on Oct. 16.
