Nebraska Legislature Approves Bills Regulating Energy Storage Resources, Data Centers and Other Large Energy Loads

On April 10, 2026, the Nebraska Legislature approved two significant energy bills, LB 1010 and LB 1261.  Unless the Governor vetoes the bills and the Legislature fails to override the vetoes, the bills will become law. 

We do not expect a veto on either bill.  The bills will take effect three months after the Legislature adjourns, or on July 17, 2026.

Energy Storage Resources

The Power Review Board issued guidance for privately developed energy storage resources (“ESRs”) in 2021.[1] LB 1010 codifies much of that guidance in statute. 

Under LB 1010, an energy storage resource is a facility that receives electric energy from the grid or from a related generation source and stores that energy for later injection back into the electrical grid.  The bill distinguishes between “associated” and “standalone” ESRs. 

Associated ESRs store energy from a co-located wind or solar farm.  Provided such associated ESRs limit their electrical output to the wind or solar farm’s nameplate capacity, they do not need Power Review Board approval.  The wind or solar farm and associated ESR may instead operate together under the wind or solar farm’s certification.  See Neb. Rev. Stat. § 70-1014.02.  Associated ESRs are exempt from eminent domain under section 70-1014.02(5).

Standalone ESRs, by contrast, operate independently of any wind or solar farm.  They need Power Review Board approval.  This is a discretionary approval that occurs only after an administrative law proceeding before the Power Review Board.  § 70-1012.

The Power Review Board cannot approve a standalone ESR unless it finds the project “will serve the public convenience and necessity, and that the applicant can most economically and feasibly supply the electric service resulting from the proposed construction or acquisition without unnecessary duplication of facilities or operations.”  § 70-1014(1)(a).  After Power Review Board approval, standalone ESRs are “exempt from the use of eminent domain by any electric supplier.” 

LB 1010 imposes additional conditions on privately owned standalone ESRs.  Before applying to the Power Review Board, the developer must:

• Secure an agreement “for purchase of all electric energy and electric capacity of such resource” with a Nebraska public power entity;
• Obtain written consent from any utility in whose service territory the ESR will locate or with whose transmission lines the ESR will interconnect; and
• Negotiate and execute a joint transmission development agreement with the utility to whose transmission lines the ESR will interconnect.

LB 1010 also subjects energy storage resources–standalone and associated—to the nameplate capacity tax.  Like wind and solar farms, ESRs in Nebraska must now pay an annual excise tax equal to $3,518 per megawatt of nameplate capacity throughout the project’s life. 

That nameplate capacity tax replaces any personal property tax on the ESR.  The host county will still impose real property tax in addition to the nameplate tax.

Generation Facilities Co-Located with Hyperscale Data Centers

LB 1261 incentivizes privately owned electric generation facilities that serve on-site industrial customers with a projected new electric load of at least 1,000 megawatts.  No consumer-owned electric supplier may condemn such a facility, provided the facility co-locates with or adjacent to the industrial customer, has an electrically equivalent point of grid interconnection to the industrial customer and receives approval from the Power Review Board. 

 The generation facility’s owner must execute a “long-term” power purchase agreement, lease, joint venture or other commercial contract with a consumer-owned electric supplier.  Unless the utility allows, the generation facility may only serve the on-site industrial customer.  The bill has a sunset clause excluding contracts executed after December 31, 2031.

Utility Planning to Integrate Large-Load Customers

Provisions amended into LB 1010 also require utilities to adopt standards for interconnecting “large‑load customers.”  A large‑load customer means a retail customer requesting interconnection that exceeds 20 megawatts at a single site (e.g., a data center).

Under the standards, large‑load customers must provide the utility:

• An acknowledgment of any similar service requests that could materially change, delay or replace the interconnection request;
• Evidence of any onsite backup generation;
• Demonstration of site control;
• Financial commitments for necessary transmission and generation infrastructure; and
• A study fee of at least $50,000 or $1,000 per megawatt, whichever is greater. The utility must complete initial studies within one year of receiving the study fee.

Utilities may establish or negotiate rates, charges and operating standards that allocate system costs to large‑load customers and mitigate operational, resource adequacy and financial risks to other ratepayers.  The bill also allows suppliers to require other service and procure load flexibility from large load customers.

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Baird Holm represents developers and utilities pursuing complex energy projects throughout the Midwest, including energy storage resources, energy generation facilities and large load customers such as data centers.  Our attorneys are also registered lobbyists in Nebraska.  Please reach out with any questions.