Stand Up For Your Atmosphere
April 18, 2022

We are just one day away from The Municipal Energy Agency of Nebraska (“MEAN”) releasing its draft 2022 Integrated Resource Plan for public comment. Some estimates show that what is at stake is over 6,000,000 tons of carbon being emitted into your atmosphere.

We hope you have received our press release by mail. We will include the information below as well, in case the hardcopy was delayed.

Whether or not you live in a MEAN served community, you have a stake in this: it is your atmosphere.
Why is this important?

MEAN serves nearly 70 communities across Nebraska, Iowa, Colorado, and Wyoming as well as the Arkansas River Power Authority (complete list of communities here). They are currently in the process of creating their 2022 IRP. 

An “IRP” is an Integrated Resource Plan, which all Western Area Power Administration (WAPA) customers, such as MEAN, are required to submit every 5 years under the Energy Policy Act of 1992. The Integrated Resource Plan that they approve this year will remain in effect until 2027. 

"The IRP must evaluate the full range of alternatives to provide adequate and reliable service to a customer’s electric consumers at the customer’s or member’s lowest system cost. Ideally, the planning process assesses new generating capacity, power purchases, energy conservation and efficiency, cogeneration and district heating and cooling applications and renewable energy resources. Robust public involvement should be a part of the process, as well, allowing the utility to share upcoming challenges with its consumers and to get their input on solutions that best address the community's diverse wishes and concerns." (WAPA)

Since the IRP ‘must evaluate the full range of alternatives’ to provide electricity to its customers, MEAN must evaluate renewable energy options. This is especially important given the rising costs of fossil fuel energy and the falling costs associated with renewables; “renewables are now significantly undercutting fossil fuels as the world’s cheapest source of energy” (World Economic Forum, 2021)
We Need a Fair Public Comment Process

WAPA requires its customers to provide “ample opportunity for full public participation” in preparing the IRP. We do not believe MEAN is doing so. MEAN has had five years to prepare for this process, but its public comment period is short, particularly given the length and complexity of the document. There is no public hearing outside of MEAN headquarters in Lincoln, Nebraska (which is not even in MEAN territory).

MEAN intends to release a draft IRP on April 19th and host an in person comment session on April 21st, just two days later. Considering MEAN’s last IRP was 268 pages long, and full of technical data, we do not believe that two days in the middle of the business week is ample time for review. Further, this session will be held in Lincoln, Nebraska. MEAN services towns in Iowa, Colorado, Wyoming, and New Mexico in addition to Nebraska. By hosting a comment session in Lincoln, Nebraska (which is not even a town served by MEAN) and nowhere else, MEAN is limiting opportunities for their constituents to meaningfully participate in the IRP process. 
What are the issues in the IRP?

We won’t know the exact contents of the IRP until the draft is released on April 19th, but here are some issues we believe will be relevant:

  • MEAN’s power mix
  • In their 2017 IRP, MEAN proposed to increase their reliance on coal, at a time when renewables are cheaper and the need to limit carbon emissions is serious. 
  • “The IPCC warns that fossil fuel emissions must be halved within 11 years if global warming is to be limited to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.” (Client Earth)
  • Will their 2022 IRP share this same misguided plan?
  • “Coal is a fossil fuel, and is the dirtiest of them all, responsible for over 0.3C of the 1C increase in global average temperatures. This makes it the single largest source of global temperature rise.” (Client Earth)

  • The Social Cost of Carbon (SCC)
  • The social cost of carbon is a measure of the economic harm from [climate change] impacts, expressed as the dollar value of the total damages from emitting one ton of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. (Environmental Defense Fund)
  • On March 1st, 2022 we requested that MEAN include the social cost of carbon in their IRP accounting. You can read our request here.

Contact Us

Please contact us with any questions or concerns about the integrated resource planning process or our work.
Your feedback is valuable.

You can reach us at:
p.  719-205-2426
e.  peterson@sdsg.org