LINCOLN -- In what many state senators called a "historic day," the Legislature gave overwhelming, first-round approval Wednesday to a bill that will allow private corporations to generate power with the state's bountiful wind.
The bill, advanced on a 44-0 vote, is expected to open the doors to larger, privately owned wind farms that have bypassed Nebraska due to its unique status -- and unique laws -- as the nation's only public power state.
Developers are eying wind farms that would be about three times the size of the state's largest current wind farm to be built to export power to other states.
Since the 1930s, when Nebraska became a public-power only state, laws have barred private companies from generating power in the state in competition with entities like the Omaha Public Power District and Nebraska Public Power District.
Under Legislative Bill 1048, private companies would have to demonstrate that they have out-of-state customers to buy their wind power and be willing to pay for the new transmission lines needed. Such companies would pay taxes to local schools and counties, which, along with the wind-power jobs created, would be a boon for rural areas.
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