In addition to serving as vice-chair of the Banking, Commerce, and Insurance Committee these past two years, I also served on the Natural Resources Committee. This committee heard many power-related bills that could impact District 42. We are fortunate to be home to the Gerald Gentleman power plant. Gerald Gentleman Station is Nebraska’s largest electric generation facility and is consistently ranked as one of the lowest production-cost electric generating plants in the nation. It is capable of producing 1,365 megawatts of power and employs over 200 employees. 

One of my priorities in the Nebraska Legislature is to help protect this vital asset and the economic benefit it provides throughout this region. Although this plant has all the latest technology to produce power while leaving a minimal carbon footprint, the Biden administration continues to raise the standards for clean energy without any real solutions to replace “baseload” energy produced by plants that operate using fossil fuels or water. Wind and solar energy are simply not a substitute for plants that can produce power on demand. Additionally, wind and solar cannot compete from a cost standpoint when all costs are considered. Yet, public power continues to be pressured to replace more “baseload” plants with green alternatives, rather than continuing to use renewables to diversify – but not replace – their existing infrastructure. 

I worked with committee chair Bruce Bostelman on his priority bill, LB1370. In its final form, LB1370 requires public power districts and other public power entities to provide written notice to the Nebraska Power Review Board prior to a final decision on whether a dispatchable energy-generating facility with a capacity of more than 100 megawatts should be retired. After receiving notice of the proposed decommissioning, the board may hold a hearing which will be closed to the public. Regardless of whether a hearing is held, the board must provide written recommendations on whether the closure is in the entity and its customers’ best interests.

LB1370 also had several other bills amended into it, including my LB1260 which I brought on behalf of our local public power and irrigation districts. The bill allows a director of a public power and irrigation district to vote and take part in discussions of agreements that affect the district and may affect their personal interests as a byproduct of the broad scope. It would, however, still not allow them to participate in discussions on their own “individual” agreement, which should be rare. This bill was important so that directors who live on one of the lakes controlled by the power and irrigation district could be involved in representing the residents who reside next to those lakes. Under current rules, the residents represented by these directors are denied any input when these agreements are developed and adopted. It also would now allow for directors who operate irrigated land within the district to be involved in developing and passing the master agreements for irrigation agreements as well. Without these changes, the groups these directors represent would have no representation. 

I expect more bills to be introduced in 2025 dealing with electrical power, growing demand, and continued pressure to restrict how power is produced. In addition, I am concerned about some of the new power users and whether those uses make sense given the growing challenges with reliable supply. My primary concern is with digital asset (e.g., Bitcoin) data mining facilities that are turning up all over the state. Digital asset mining facilities use tremendous amounts of power. The facility on the east edge of Kearney, for example, uses more power than the entire city of Kearney. Meanwhile, smaller facilities (housed in portable storage containers) are now located in several rural areas. They use huge amounts of power yet produce virtually no jobs, pay limited personal property taxes on the GPUs operating at the sites, and maybe no income taxes since they are paid in Bitcoin. I will be holding meetings this summer to get input from all parties and plan to bring a bill next session based on these discussions. 

Your input is invaluable to me. I look forward to hearing from you regarding issues that are important to you. It is a privilege to serve as your State Senator, and I am committed to making a positive difference for the District and the State. You can reach me at mjacobson@leg.ne.gov or by calling my legislative office at 402-471-2729.