BEATRICE – It appears a City of Beatrice decision to move away from Nebraska Public Power District for wholesale electricity is paying off, better than projected.
The Beatrice Board of Public Works and the City are currently a 40-percent customer of NPPD, but that purchase percentage will drop to 10-percent at the start of 2021 as the community transitions to other sources.


The city’s main supplier will be AEP Energy Partners of Ohio. The city also has contracts with NextEra Energy Resources, Lincoln Electric System and Western Area Power Administration…contracts that will extend through 2030.


BPW Manager Tobias Tempelmeyer gave public works board members a comparison, based on 2018 NPPD wholesale rates when the city was a 70-percent district customer.


"We had figured based on the 2018 NPPD rates, that we would save three-point-four percent. At the end of the year when we looked at the 2018 NPPD rates, we saved ten and a half percent. We ended up doing better than we anticipated we would save in 2019. NPPD reduced their rates in 2019 and so based on their actual rates that year, we still saved over eight percent from what NPPD would have charged us in 2019."


During 2020, the estimate was that the city would save about 13.6 percent, and the savings based on actual NPPD rates was about 13.5 percent.


"Obviously, we have done better than anticipated as we've had this exit from NPPD."


Based on per-kilowatt hour cost, Tempelmeyer says the city peaked at about 7.5 cents in 2016. This year, the per-kilowatt hour cost has not risen above 5.6 cents.
Not included in the calculations is a contract with the Cottonwood Wind Farm which the city has.


The BPW and City work with a consultant in tracking wholesale electric costs, both currently and potential future trends.  January 1st will mark five years since retail electric rates were increased in the City of Beatrice.