Some Nebraska communities are cashing in on renewables. Others are being left behind.
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- Nebraska's nameplate capacity tax generated over $13.6 million in 2025, up from $2.03 million across 9 counties in 2015 — yet more than 88% of 2025 revenue went to just 10 of the state's 93 counties.
- O'Neill Public School District collected roughly $7.6 million in nameplate capacity tax revenue over nine years, which former superintendent Amy Shane said helped the district fund a $13.2 million expansion of its junior-senior high school without overburdening local taxpayers.
- Nebraska lawmakers killed a 2025 proposal to raise the nameplate capacity tax rate from $3,518 to $6,560 per megawatt, though they did pass a separate bill extending the tax to qualifying battery energy storage developments.
- Several Nebraska counties have adopted moratoriums or strict zoning regulations that effectively block renewable energy siting, driven by community concerns about property values, noise, health, safety, and fire risks.
- John Hansen, president of the Nebraska Farmers Union, called each wind turbine "an off-farm, part-time job" for farmers and argued that urban sprawl and acreage housing developments pose a larger threat to Nebraska farmland than renewables do.
- The Omaha Public Power District is pursuing an "all-of-the-above" strategy that keeps coal on the grid, expands natural gas, and adds renewable power purchase agreements to meet surging demand from electrification, manufacturing, and data centers.
Why it matters: The geographic concentration means 83 of Nebraska's 93 counties are still on the outside of a revenue stream that helped O'Neill fund a $13.2 million school build — and with a 2025 proposal to nearly double the per-megawatt rate now dead, the inequality baked into the system is unlikely to ease. At the same time, county-level moratoriums are slowing siting just as utilities warn of an energy crunch driven by data centers and electrification.
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