Happy Spring, District One! We are less than one month away from the end of our legislative session, and the Legislature is starting to make a move on some pretty big bills. At the end of this week, we discussed and passed by priority bill on first round, LB 977, that would appropriate $15 million dollars to Falls City for them to secure redundant and resilient access to power.

Falls City has almost everything going for it to make it the perfect site to grow Nebraska’s economy—a ready site with access to rail, gas, fast broadband, and a large workforce within commuting distance.  In fact, it has a higher population within 100 miles than anywhere else in the state. The one thing they are missing there is access to the electrical capacity needed to grow.  

I have been working with Falls City Economic Development and Growth Enterprise (or EDGE), which has proactively secured options on more than 1000 acres of land situated next to both the BNSF and Union Pacific rail lines. The site is flanked by a natural gas pipeline and U.S. Highway 73.

Unfortunately, this site continues to lose out on potential development prospects because of our inability to secure redundant and resilient access to power.  

Not only is there no excess power to offer to a potential, transformative project, but, most concerning to me, the continuity of the electrical service they do have within the community is also challenged. Falls City has experienced numerous outages that affect the day-to-day lives of our citizens and businesses. In fact, the power went off during a recent girl’s high school district basketball game.

Without upgrades to our electrical infrastructure, there can be no growth. Falls City checks all the boxes for many potential game-changing projects, or could even serve as the location for our state’s first mega site– except they need access to electricity, and, frustratingly, they don’t have that. So they can’t compete, and they can’t grow.

As amended, LB 977 would use $15 million from the Cash Reserve Fund and transfer the money to the Site and Building Development Fund for expanding electrical system capacities and enhancing redundancy and resilience which is greatly needed. 

Because of the location of Falls City as a gateway to Nebraska, this infusion of dollars to District One will not only transform a community, but it will transform our whole state. I am ecstatic that LB 977 passed through the first round of debate, and I am excited to get this bill passed this year.

As always, I welcome your input on issues important to you. Follow along on my Facebook and Twitter pages, both entitled “Senator Julie Slama” for more updates, or contact me directly at Senator Julie Slama, District 1 State Capitol, PO Box 94604, Lincoln NE 68509-4604; telephone: 402-471-2733; email: jslama@leg.ne.gov.