Agricultural Economics, Department of

 

Cornhusker Economics

Date of this Version

8-13-2025

Document Type

Newsletter Issue

Citation

Cornhusker Economics (August 13, 2025)

Agricultural Economics, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Abstract

Farm managers are destined to face a myriad of choices while looking for and seeking the right balance between methods and outcomes that satisfy their individual farm’s needs. Successful farms require productivity, profitability, and continuity. This holds true for the many production choices made throughout the year. One of these opportunities is the purchase of electricity for irrigation. Nebraska is a unique state in that its electric power is generated and delivered by public power companies. The largest single entity in that system is NPPD, which serves all or part of 84 of the 93 counties within the state. NPPD has developed four optional programs to purchase irrigation electricity. These have been developed due to the ever-increasing demand for electrical power across the state. The summer season’s need for cooling and irrigation makes this time of year one where electricity demand is at its highest. The need to supply adequate, affordable electricity is one of the long-run challenges utilities face as they strive to fill and maintain their role as power suppliers. For this reason, NPPD continues to work at adding capacity and increasing efficiency, as noted by some of the projects described in this link: https://www.nppd.com/powering-nebraska/projects. NPPD’s four programs focus on incentivizing off-peak power use. This is accomplished by adjusting costs per kilowatt hour and/or limiting electrical usage during key time periods. This paper discusses these four optional producer programs (PPs) offered to farmers who use electricity for irrigation.

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