Battery storage framework, large load regulations approved

Senators passed a measure April 10 that creates a regulatory framework for privately developed battery energy storage facilities and allows public utilities to set standards for new customers with large energy demands.

LB1010, sponsored by Plymouth Sen. Tom Brandt, requires private energy developers to apply to the Nebraska Power Review Board before constructing or acquiring an energy storage resource.

The bill requires a private electric supplier to show that they have:
• entered into, or will enter into, a power purchase agreement or other contract with a Nebraska public power supplier for the purchase of the ESR’s electric energy and capacity throughout its operational life;
• obtained written consent from affected electric suppliers; and
• entered into a joint transmission development agreement with the public power supplier that owns the transmission facilities that will interconnect with the ESR.

LB1010 also contains provisions of three other measures considered by the Natural Resources Committee this session.

The amended provisions of LB1064, introduced by Sen. Eliot Bostar of Lincoln, create the Large Load Customer Regulation Act. They require public power suppliers to establish standards for interconnecting retail customers with a new or expanded load of more than 20 megawatts at a single site.

The standards will require customers to disclose whether they are pursuing a similar interconnection request and pay a fee to the interconnecting public power supplier for initial load studies.

The measure also authorizes public power suppliers to establish rates, charges and operating standards for each large load customer and impose electric service requirements for those customers in addition to the standards.

Finally, the measure requires public power suppliers to develop a procedure requiring large load customers to curtail their electricity use or deploy onsite backup generating facilities during times of grid instability or emergencies.

The amended provisions of LB1111, sponsored by Omaha Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh, allow public power suppliers to impose certain requirements on large data centers, including terms or conditions requiring data centers to pay the full cost of providing their electric service.

Additionally, the measure requires the owner or operator of a data center to submit an annual report to the state Department of Water, Energy and Environment and the Natural Resources Committee. The report must include the data center’s size, location and annual electricity demand and water usage, among other information.

A data center owner or operator also is required to cover the facility’s decommissioning costs and enter into a community benefit agreement with communities affected by the data center.

The amended provisions of LB1193, introduced by Sen. Jason Prokop of Lincoln, impose the annual nameplate capacity tax on owners of ESRs with a nameplate capacity of 100 kilowatts or more. The measure also exempts certain equipment used in ESRs from the tangible personal property tax.

LB1010 passed on a vote of 49-0.