Nebraska Public Power District, Courtesy
COLUMBUS — Nebraska Public Power District’s (NPPD) Board of Directors will hold a public hearing during the regularly scheduled October meeting to gather input on two proposed retail service standards in the federal Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA).
As a part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) of 2021, Congress amended the PURPA by adding two retail service standards. NPPD’s Board of Directors is required by the PURPA to consider and determine whether to adopt the two standards, which are related to demand response practices and electric vehicle (EV) charging programs.
The first standard up for consideration requires each utility to promote the use of demand response practices by customers to reduce electricity consumption during periods of unusually high demand.
The second standard up for consideration requires that each state consider measures to promote affordable and equitable EV charging options for customers, improve the customer experience associated with EV charging, accelerate third-party investment in EV chargers, and appropriately recover marginal costs of delivering electricity to EVs and EV charging equipment.
“The PURPA was initially implemented in 1978 to encourage, among other things, conservation of electric energy, increased efficiency of electric resources and equitable retail rates for electric consumers,” said NPPD Pricing and Rates Supervisor Scott Jackson. “New PURPA standards are periodically added for consideration by utilities. The public hearing in October provides an opportunity for members of the public to comment on the two new proposed standards.”
The public hearing is scheduled to take place at the NPPD General Office in Columbus during the Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023, Board meeting at approximately 2 p.m. CDT.
The new standards up for consideration can be seen on NPPD.com/purpa.