CNPPID July Board Meeting Summary

CNPPID July Board Meeting Summary
Courtesy/ Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District.
July 7th, 2023 | CNPPID

(HOLDREGE, Neb.) – At their monthly board meeting held Wednesday in Holdrege, the Central Nebraska
Public Power and Irrigation District’s board of directors adopted bylaws for Platte River Public Power &
Irrigation District, which Central will be renamed after its consolidation with Dawson Public Power District.
The adopted bylaws were the unanimous recommendation of a special committee the Central board of
directors established in April. The committee was comprised of four directors from both Central and
Dawson. Committee meetings also included the districts’ general managers, a power customer of Dawson, two irrigation customers of Central, and legal counsel.

Proposed bylaws were developed during multiple meetings of the committee and presented to the Central and Dawson boards at their respective June meetings for their input. The committee and attendees incorporated that feedback and, upon further discussion, other revisions before unanimously recommending the bylaws that were adopted on July 5. The Dawson board of directors endorsed the recommended bylaws at their board meeting earlier that day, which was reported to the Central board prior to its vote.

The bylaws formalize provisions of the plan of consolidation that both districts’ boards approved in October 2022, establishing operating divisions and financial units, the officers of the district, management
structure, allocation of revenue and expenses, and formation of reserve funds. The bylaws also address
matters that are not governed by state law or the charter.

Much of the bylaws pertain to how the consolidated district’s board of directors will function. Notably,
the bylaws require that certain matters, including water and electric rates, allocation, water service agreements and residential lease term agreements require a two-thirds super-majority vote to be adopted.


Additionally, the bylaws add requirements that the board meetings be held in Phelps County at least every six months.

The consolidated district will, like Central, continue to use a committee structure, with seven committees
making recommendations to the board. The Water Services committee, which will have a majority of its
members and the committee chair be directors from subdivisions 2 (Kearney County), 4 (Phelps County)
and 6 (Gosper County and a portion of Frontier County), will make recommendations on all issues related
to surface water for irrigation. The Electric Distribution Services committee, which will have a majority
of its members and the committee chair be directors from subdivisions 1 (mostly rural Buffalo County),
3 (mostly rural Dawson County), 5 (portions of rural Lincoln County) and 6 (Gosper County), will make
recommendations on all issues related to providing electrical power to retail customers.

The bylaws will automatically take effect when the Nebraska Power Review Board approves the consolidation of Central and Dawson and issues a new charter. Central’s board of directors will be considering the authorization of a new petition to amend its charter at a special meeting on July 17. The proposed petition addresses the technical issue that led the Nebraska Power Review Board to deny the petition Central filed in October 2022 and will ask that the consolidation be effective January 1, 2024.

Also at Wednesday’s board meeting:

The directors approved the purchase of $151,099 from ISCO Industries for oval pipe to be used on a road crossing. They also approved the work order of $241,560 to replace the pipe and build the headwalls for the crossing.

Directors approved the purchase of an E35 Bobcat Mini Excavator for $80,000. Central will rent the excavator for the first month to make sure it fits their needs before purchasing and the rental cost will go towards the final purchase total.

The board approved revisions to the employee handbook necessitated by the Central employees voting to dissolve their union on November 10, 2022. Also reflected in the revised handbook was the bi-monthly payroll and updated benefit packages which the board previously approved.

General Manager Devin Brundage provided an overview of Project Meadowlark, the $750 million liquid fertilizer plant project in Gothenburg that was publicly announced on June 28. Brundage noted when the design for the facility was changed last summer to utilize electricity to create the needed hydrogen as opposed to methane gas, the plant’s owners began to explore the benefits of Platte River Public Power & Irrigation District, given its ability to directly deliver that energy to the project.

Earlier this year, the project leaders decided Platte River Public Power & Irrigation District, following formation, would be the power supplier for the plant. A very collaborative process that includes the City of Gothenburg as well as NPPD, the wholesale energy supplier, is underway to help Project Meadowlark achieve that request ahead of its future commercial operation start date. The plant is anticipated to have a load of approximately 220 megawatts, doubling the existing load of the consolidated district and generating lower cost, carbon-free Urea Ammonium Nitrate (UAN) for use by ag producers in up to a projected 15 mile radius.

Civil engineer Tyler Thulin reported that Lake McConaughy’s elevation currently is 3,234.9 feet (976,700 acre-feet, or 56% of maximum volume). This elevation is up 0.9 feet from the June meeting and Thulin reported that normally at this time of year the elevation would have dropped four to five feet. Inflows are around 1400 cubic feet per second (cfs), which is up 500 cfs in the past two weeks and outflows are about 900 cfs.

Thulin also reported that flows in the South Platte River continue to be at a very high level and that should last for at least the next week. All current water passing through Central’s diversion dam is from the South Platte. Current outflows from McConaughy are being released for Gerald Gentleman Station cooling and for irrigation in the Glendo canals.

Approximatley 60 members of the public attended the meeting with a few speaking during the public comment portion of the meeting, including lake residents and irrigation customers.

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