NPPD Project Reaches Easement Stage

Representatives from Nebraska Public Power District informed the Kearney County Board of Supervisors Tuesday that right-of-way agents have begun acquiring easements from county landowners for NPPD’s Axtell to Kansas 345,000-volt transmission line project. Generally, easement work is being done from Axtell, progressing south. About two dozen property owners have signed thus far. If not contacted, yet, property owners along the line route can expect to be reached within the next couple of months.
The new, high-voltage power line is needed because it will help ease a bottleneck that currently exists in NPPD’s regional transmission grid. At times, most often when the power is most needed, congestion in existing transmission lines will not allow electric energy to flow freely. This means NPPD must lower the output of its lowest cost generating plant, Gerald Gentleman Station near North Platte, or risk overloading the electric system and causing widespread blackouts. The new, 53-mile power line will also provide an additional north-south pathway for energy in the area, enhancing the system’s reliability in case of ice or wind storms.

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