Gov. Jim Pillen joined President Trump and governors from across the country Thursday in Washington D.C. to promote the Ratepayer Protection Pledge, an effort aimed at preventing Nebraska households and businesses from paying higher electric bills as large data centers expand.
The pledge calls on major technology companies to pay the full cost of the electricity infrastructure needed to power their facilities. Under the “build, bring, or buy” framework, developers would be responsible for new power generation, transmission lines and other grid upgrades instead of passing those costs on to utility customers.
Pillen said Nebraska is committed to protecting its public power system while continuing to attract economic development. “It’s important for Americans to understand we have massive amounts of electricity, so we have to produce to protect our ratepayers,” Pillen says.
“We are going to protect public power in Nebraska because it’s really critical for our state to grow, and we are protecting our ratepayers.” During the roundtable discussion, Pillen also highlighted Nebraska’s affordable electric rates, Offutt Air Force Base and the Ogallala Aquifer as key assets the state must protect.
Pillen also recently created a Data Center Task Force to review major projects and evaluate their impacts on water resources, power infrastructure and local communities.