Latest news with #NPPD
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Nebraska needs a nuclear energy strategy
Nebraska Public Power District's Cooper Nuclear Station near Brownville, Nebraska. (Courtesy of NPPD) In February 2021, thousands of Nebraskans found themselves in the dark of rolling blackouts. A brutal polar vortex froze wind turbines, strained natural gas supplies and exposed serious weaknesses in our energy grid. However, even as multiple power sources failed, one remained steadfast — nuclear energy. That moment was a wake-up call. We can no longer afford to treat energy policy as a matter of convenience or short-term cost. To avoid future blackouts and maintain affordable, resilient, firm and reliable power, Nebraska needs nuclear energy. Wind and solar are intermittent. Natural gas is a vital bridge fuel, but it is vulnerable to supply shocks in extreme weather. This is about building a reliable and resilient energy source that can deliver for Nebraska families, farmers and businesses when it counts. Nuclear energy, which currently generates 17% of Nebraska's power, brings unique strengths. It provides carbon-free baseload power that runs around the clock regardless of whether the wind is blowing or the sun is shining. During the 2021 deep freeze, Nebraska's lone nuclear plant kept running at full strength while other sources faltered. The United Nations 2021 report, 'Life Cycle Assessment of Electricity Generation Options,' shows that nuclear has the lowest overall impacts on human health and the environment by any measure and from any perspective. The cost of new nuclear energy is within a penny per kilowatt-hour of other forms of new energy sources, including natural gas, wind and solar. Is that one cent too much to have a resilient, reliable power source for Nebraska? We've seen what happens when nuclear gets overlooked. Omaha Public Power District's Fort Calhoun plant and Nebraska Public Power District's Cooper Nuclear Station accounted for about a quarter of Nebraska's net generation capabilities before Fort Calhoun was shut down in 2016. The shut down was nearly two decades ahead of schedule, a casualty of market conditions that failed to account for long-term reliability and energy needs. Hundreds of skilled jobs were lost. Our energy safety net shrank. And just a few years later, that decision looked shortsighted as the grid buckled under pressure. To avoid repeating that mistake, policymakers should ensure that energy markets properly value reliability and resilience. As 26 House Republicans made clear in a late April letter to congressional leadership, protecting the federal nuclear production tax credit (PTC) is one way to do so. It has proven a huge help in incentivizing the development of nuclear power at a time when NPPD is exploring options. For Nebraska, the credit helps create and protect hundreds of high-paying, skilled jobs, generating local tax revenue and sustaining a stable source of affordable power. Another step Congress could take is expanding investment incentives for next-generation technologies like small modular reactors (SMRs). These compact, scalable reactors can serve Nebraska's rural areas and industrial parks where large traditional plants aren't practical, offering flexibility and grid stability. Policies like the Advanced Nuclear Production Credit and bipartisan permitting reform proposals can help accelerate local deployment. U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., has advocated for nuclear's role in America's energy future on the Senate Environment and Public Works Subcommittee, where it helps Nebraska to have a voice in ensuring that our state's long-term energy interests remain protected. Nebraska's energy future isn't just about keeping the lights on. It's about protecting lives during extreme weather, powering our farms and factories and anchoring high-skilled jobs in our communities. If we want to avoid another round of blackouts, we should encourage policies that keep every reliable tool in the toolbox — including nuclear. Bruce Bostelman, a farmer and veteran from Brainard, served in the Nebraska Legislature from 2017 to 2025, including serving as chair of the Natural Resources Committee. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Associated Press
16-05-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
Nebraska Public Power District bought land for $5 million — from NPPD executives
Early this year, the Nebraska Public Power District paid $5 million for a piece of rural Lancaster County land. The price tag — around five times the land's assessed value — is eyebrow raising on its own. Even more surprising is who sold the land to NPPD: two NPPD executives. The land, 202 acres of mostly irrigated farmland, had been previously owned by married couple Ronald and Donna Starzec. Ronald is NPPD's land management manager, responsible for the department that manages land purchases like this one. Donna's title: chief audit and ethics officer. An ethics officer engaging in a transaction with a public entity is practically unheard of, said Richard Painter, a University of Minnesota law professor who served as an ethics lawyer to the George W. Bush administration. 'The chief ethics officer is one of the people selling the land to the company? That's a laugh,' Painter said. 'I haven't seen that before.' Neither of the married NPPD executives filed a conflict-of-interest statement with the state, either before or after the sale, said David Hunter, executive director of the Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission. That's despite a state statute that requires any employee of a political subdivision to identify potential conflicts if their salary and benefits exceed $150,000. Donna Starzec's pay in 2024, as reported to the Flatwater Free Press, was more than $250,000. In interviews, both NPPD General Counsel John McClure and CEO Tom Kent defended the purchase, saying the specific piece of land was crucial to meeting Nebraska's future energy needs. NPPD leaders kept the transaction transparent and objective, they said. A law firm managed negotiations with the Starzecs on behalf of NPPD to avoid pressure on employees who have worked directly with the couple, McClure said. He said that, based on his reading of state law, the couple weren't required to divulge the sale to the state because the conflict didn't arise 'in the course of their employment.' 'We took them out of being required to do anything in the course of their employment.' NPPD's board was notified of the situation, discussed it in executive session and voted on it, Kent said. 'As I look back at this particular transaction and how it was approached, I think we did all things right,' Kent said. Why this land? The newly acquired land sits just north of the existing Sheldon Station NPPD power plant. There, the public utility plans to build a new power plant called Princeton Road Station, using the existing transmission lines and railroad. 'From a geography standpoint, it's right where we needed to be,' Kent said. 'It fits our expansion plans as we build additional … infrastructure to serve the growing state.' NPPD is expanding its power-generation capabilities to meet growing interest from businesses in rural areas of the state, Kent said in a press release announcing Princeton Road Station. 'It's becoming sort of an energy center, if you will,' McClure said about the station. 'There's a solar project that's been developed privately in close proximity.' Donna Starzec is from the Hallam area and had purchased the land about three years before she started working for NPPD in 1991, McClure said. 'I'm sure she never thought about it,' McClure said. 'She just happened to be in that area, from that area, and purchased that property.' The Starzecs did not respond to multiple emailed requests for comment, and NPPD leaders declined to make them available for an interview. A private energy developer made an offer to the Starzecs in June or July of 2024 to buy 40 acres of the tract, at $30,000 per acre, to build a battery storage facility. Ronald Starzec knew that NPPD was interested in acquiring their entire 202-acre tract, according to NPPD purchase documents, and told NPPD leaders that they had received an offer. 'That information was shared internally, and it was recognized that, wow, we may have an interest in that property … and we need to think about making a counteroffer here,' McClure said. Donna Starzec submitted an internal ethics document indicating her ownership of the property, McClure said. Both Starzecs signed a statement declaring that they represent their individual interests and would not make decisions on behalf of NPPD. Most of the discussion around the purchase happened in executive session with the board, closed to the public, McClure said, because staff were providing legal advice and engaging in negotiations. At the August 2024 public board meeting, the board unanimously adopted a resolution, without any public discussion, to option the property and authorize the purchase. The agenda posted before the meeting identified the Starzecs as employees, and Kent acknowledged their employment during the meeting. The text of the resolution passed by the board does not mention that the Starzecs are NPPD employees. Market Value After the district closed on the property on Feb. 28, the amount paid to the Starzecs and closing costs totaled just over $5 million, around five times the assessed value of the land. Farmland is regularly assessed lower than the market value for tax purposes, said Anthony Schutz, a University of Nebraska College of Law professor specializing in agricultural law. It is not unusual for sale prices to exceed the assessed value, he said. But this particular sale price does appear to be an outlier, according to a Flatwater Free Press analysis. In previous Lancaster County land purchases, NPPD has paid an average of 150% more than the assessed value of the land, according to that analysis of assessor records. 'I would say that real estate transactions between state employees and any state-owned entity should only be at the tax-assessed value,' said Painter, the government ethics law professor. 'Anything else — no go.' The board agreed on a final sale price of about $25,000 per acre, McClure said, determined by the private developer's higher offer and an appraisal conducted by NPPD that estimated the land could be worth $20,700 per acre for a high-end investment. But that appraisal also priced the fair market value of the whole tract at just under $2.3 million, or about $11,000 per acre, less than half the sale price. 'You do an inside transaction with your own officers and exceed the appraised value,' Painter said. 'That's what's most shocking, because appraisals tend to be fairly generous.' Other states place legal limits on the extent that a government body can exceed fair market value while acquiring land, Schutz said, but those limits don't exist in Nebraska. The only real check on a transaction of this sort in Nebraska is political, Schutz said — generally, public agencies and elected officials want to appear as good stewards of public dollars. The 11 members of NPPD's board of directors are elected to serve six-year terms. 'I tend to think that the best course of action in a situation like this is recusal, and it's a lot of disclosure, and it's making sure that everybody knows exactly why you're purchasing this property from these people at this price,' Schutz said. Transactions like this one can also set an informal precedent, Schutz said, where sellers hold off because they know NPPD may be willing to pay far above market value for property under the right circumstances. Setting the floor for future transactions was a concern for NPPD, too, McClure said, because appraisals rely on comparable sales. If the private buyer had paid $30,000 per acre, that would have become the market value for future sales in the area, McClure said. Schutz noted that NPPD had another potential tool to acquire the land: eminent domain. The desirability of land near Sheldon Station, he said, 'doesn't necessarily justify spending 50% more when you also have the condemnation authority that would keep your public costs at fair market value, plus whatever transaction costs are associated.' Eminent domain, an authority that NPPD has to condemn land that it needs for development, may have kept the price at the appraised market value — potentially saving around $2.7 million. But it also might have ended with higher costs if the private sale went through and reset the market value before the eminent domain process was complete, Kent said. 'We work to negotiate first,' McClure said. 'That really never came across our thinking that we're going to go condemn this, try to acquire this through eminent domain.' ___ This story was originally published by Flatwater Free Press and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.
Yahoo
29-01-2025
- Yahoo
88-Year-Old Man Accused of Killing Wife and Staging Scene to Make It Look Like She Died by Suicide: Police
An 88-year-old man is facing a murder charge after allegedly killing his wife and staging the scene to make it look like she died by suicide, police have said. On Sunday, Jan. 26, at around 3:00 a.m. local time, North Port Police Department (NPPD) officers responded to a call in the 2700 block of Halladay Street in the Florida city "regarding a deceased individual and a reported self-inflicted death," police said in a Facebook post. "However, following a thorough investigation, in conjunction with the District 12 Medical Examiner's Office, it was determined that the victim's death was not the result of a self-inflicted injury, and elements of the scene had been staged by the suspect," officers added. Authorities confirmed Miroslav Maksic, 88, had since been charged with one count of homicide in connection to the death of his wife, Miljka Maksic, 76, stating that he'd been booked into the Sarasota County Jail. Per online inmate records, the suspect was booked into the jail on Monday, Jan. 27 at around 9:36 p.m. without bond. His arraigning date has been listed as March 14. NPPD chief, Todd Garrison, said in the Facebook post, "This is a tragic situation, but I'm thankful for the dedicated work of our investigators and the Medical Examiner's office who worked diligently to quickly uncover the truth." "Justice for the victim and loved ones is our top priority, and we remain committed to holding those responsible accountable for their actions," the chief added. Per local Fox affiliate WFTX, a family friend made the 911 call after Miroslav alleged his wife had died by suicide. The caller said they could see the victim's body through the window, lying in a "supine position in a pool of blood," the outlet stated, citing a police report. The friend of the family said she had dinner with the couple the night before. Per the report, police found a .357 Magnum revolver in Miljka's left hand, despite the 911 caller saying her dominant hand was her right one. It allegedly looked like somebody had tried to wipe up the blood. A towel was allegedly found above the victim's head. The suspect was reportedly not home when officers arrived, but when police did speak with him, he allegedly changed his statement "several times," per WFTX, citing the report. ABC Action News stated he appeared "to be in a state of confusion." Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases. WFTX added that the medical examiner said an autopsy revealed the victim suffered from a gunshot wound in the cheek and a fatal shot to the back of the head. The bullet was thought to have been found in the same hand the gun was found in, which the medical examiner said was "inconsistent with the path of the fatal projectile." "Several things weren't adding up ... So, as the investigation continued it ultimately [led] to the arrest of the husband in this case," NPPD's Josh Taylor said, according to WFTX. Taylor and the District 12 Medical Examiner's Office didn't immediately respond when contacted by PEOPLE for additional information. If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988, text "STRENGTH" to the Crisis Text Line at 741741 or go to Read the original article on People
