Nebraskan demands more wind turbines.

[shcrane71]

The publicly-owned utility decided to use an aqua berm (huge plastic tube filled with water) to protect the plant the nuclear power plant from the floods this summer. A contracted worker (outsourcing this work because the public utility believes privatization will save money), punctured the berm with a forklift exasperating the flooding. This citizen believes it's time Nebraska to switch to wind energy.

All of Nebraska's utilities are publicly owned. Odd that more farmers and ranchers aren't setting up wind turbines and selling the energy back to the utilities.

[newfie11]

1. I am all for it

Let em come put them up on my land!

As I understand it, here in Nebraska the power companies don't pay you back for the extra generated power (above what you use). Instead it runs your meter backwards so yes in a round about way they are taking money off that you would have had to pay them.

Who this would really help are people using pivots. The expense of running those is very high. We don't have that as we irrigate with gravity flow from the ditch.

If the turbines were cheaper we would already have one.

[shcrane71]

2. If public utilities aren't going to pay then maybe private ones like MidAmerican

energy would pay for wind power from Nebraskan wind turbines. I believe OPPD is purchasing wind power from Iowan wind turbines as it is.