New York (Platts)--9Jul2007

The Omaha Public Power District is building a second coal-fired power plant
near Nebraska City, Nebraska, but the utility is also keeping an eye on
sustainable energy and energy efficiency as ways to help meet its energy needs
over the next decades, said spokesman Mike Jones.

Still, a third coal-fired unit at the plant site may be in the works.

Jones said construction of the new 663-MW Nebraska City Station Unit 2 is
progressing as planned, with the unit expected to come on line in spring 2009.
He added that the output from the new plant may not be enough to meet energy
demand over the long term, and OPPD is keeping an option open to build a third
coal-fired unit, but he said no specific plans are being made at this point. 

"We don't even know if we'll need [a third one] in 15 years, and we don't know
if coal will necessarily be the best thing to do," he said, adding that OPPD
is increasingly focusing on renewable energy and ways to cut energy use
through efficiency measures. 

Jones said that OPPD recently kicked off a new program, called Sustainable
Energy and Environmental Stewardship, which is working on ways to incorporate
renewable energy into OPPD's generation mix and promote energy efficiency. 

"The division [conducting the program] is looking for different projects using
renewables that make economic sense," Jones said. 

Jones said that while renewable energy has become a new focus at OPPD, making
sure that electricity remains affordable is a priority for the utility. He
said that coal remains attractive because of its lower cost to generate
electricity relative to other fuels and renewable sources. 

Second unit to take PRB 

The new unit at Nebraska City Station is being engineered to use Powder River
Basin coal, Jones said. He declined to comment whether OPPD has signed
contracts with any railroads for coal delivery to the new plant. 

The Omaha district will use half of the output from the new unit, and the
remainder will go to seven other public power entities participating in the
project. OPPD already has one coal-fired station. The new one will be built
next to it. 

-- Marcin Skomial, marcin_skomial@platts.com

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