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Nebraska FarmersUnion |
1305
Plum Street • Lincoln, NE 68502 Contact
John Hansen Office: 402-476-8815, Fax: 402-476-8859, Cell: 402-580-8815 |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
GOVERNOR
HEINEMAN SIGNING OF LB 629 USHERS IN
A NEW ERA FOR
WIND ENERGY DEVELOPMENT IN NEBRASKA
LINCOLN, NE– Governor Dave Heineman signed LB 629 and LB629A into law in a signing ceremony in the Governor’s office, marking the beginning of a new era for wind energy development in Nebraska. LB 629, Sen. Cap Dierks Priority Bill, received unanimous support in final round consideration with all 49 State Senators voting in support on Final Reading. LB 629 authorizes the creation of C-BED (Community-Based Energy Development) in Nebraska.
General
farm, commodity, rural, and environmental organizations that supported LB 629
participated in the ceremony. Nebraska
Farmers Union was joined by representatives from the American Corn Growers
Association, American Corn Growers Foundation, the Center for Rural Affairs,
Nebraskans for Renewable Energy, and the Nebraska Sierra Club.
Seven
of the nine State Senators who co-sponsored LB 629 participated in the
ceremony. In addition to primary
sponsor Sen. Cap Dierks of Ewing, who also designated LB 629 as his Priority
Bill, co-sponsors Sen. Annette Dubas of Fullerton, Sen. Russ Karpisek of
Wilber, Sen. Vickie McDonald of St. Paul, Sen. Don Preister of Omaha, Sen. Norm
Wallman of Cortland, and Sen. Steve Lathrop of Omaha were present at the
signing ceremony. Unable to attend
were Sen. Phil Erdman of Bayard and Sen. Mike Flood of Norfolk.
Representatives
from the Lincoln Electric System, Omaha Public Power District, and the Nebraska
Public Power District also participated in the ceremony.
Governor
Heineman joked with the State Senators and participants while praising the need
for more renewable energy and the hard work done by Sen. Dierks in bringing the
C-BED advocates and public power utilities together.
John
Hansen, Nebraska Farmers Union State President complimented Governor Heineman,
Sen. Dierks and the eight other Senators who co-sponsored LB 629, the
organizational supporters, and the Nebraska public power utilities for coming
together for the best interests of the state.
“LB 629 is historic, landmark legislation that authorizes and encourages
the use of community owned electrical generation. C-BED is the private sector wind energy development model that
maximizes the rural economic development benefits by allowing only Nebraska
residents and landowners to own the wind turbines. C-BED is the private sector development model that best protects,
compliments, and enhances the original mission of public power, which has
served our state so well. C-BED allows
public power to utilize the benefits of private sector federal wind development
incentives while still protecting the integrity of our public power
system. We are looking forward to many
years of collaborative efforts between C-BED wind energy projects and our
public utilities. This is a
win-win-win-win for the rural economy, Nebraska citizens, public power, and the
environment,” Hansen concluded.
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