Nebraska Public Service Commission approves controversial transmission line through the Sandhills

The Nebraska Public Service Commission on Tuesday approved a heavily disputed 220-mile Nebraska Public Power District transmission line through the Sandhills.

Commissioners were briefed that the limited scope of the vote wouldn’t stop the so-called R Project, but only delay it. It passed by a count of 3-1, with one commissioner present not voting.

Christian Mirch, representing eastern Douglas County, didn’t vote. Kevin Stocker, who represents Grand Island and everything to the west, voted against the project.

“I recognize that the Nebraska Public Service Commission has limited authority over transmission line projects and is not responsible for establishing Nebraska’s overall energy policy,” Stocker said, “but since this permit requires a vote from commissioners, I will state the reasons for my opposition. First and foremost, the entire project is in my district, and currently the project does not have total support from the landowners who will be directly impacted.”

Stocker said changing national energy policy and NPPD considering a nuclear power station raises questions about the $800 million R Project. He called on the utility to perform an updated assessment of the plans.

Amy Ballheh lives and ranches near Burwell. Fire sparking is a concern, and the record-breaking wildfires this spring are evidence of the risk, Ballheh said during the public comment period.

“When these lines are put up out in the middle of nowhere, the fire gets started before you can hardly see it, and then you can’t get to them because the hills are too sandy,” Ballheh said. “There’s too many low, wet grounds. It’s just very, very difficult, so that is a big concern to have it out in that grassland.”

Many landowners have not signed agreements with NPPD. Landowners cite the fragile nature of the Sandhills and how the project could endanger the whooping crane and American burying beetle.

Trent Lewis of Sherman County said the Sandhills are a key part of one of the largest grasslands in the world. He’s a co-op owner of NPPD but said the power company’s plan doesn’t add up.

“In the name of net carbon zero, [NPPD] wants to bring concrete, steel, and heavy machinery into the second-largest carbon sequestration area of the world and somehow believe that we’re making progress,” Lewis said. “Making progress for who and what?”

The Sandhills are “the Great Plains’ largest and most unspoiled grassland ecosystem,” a University of Nebraska-Lincoln article said in 2024.

The commission’s legal team said NPPD provided all the necessary infrastructure waivers with phone, internet and railroad companies nearby to move forward. Its attorney said the Public Service Commission is statutorily required to approve projects that meet requirements, like the R Project has.

This is the latest news in a 13-year case that’s heading to court for the second time, after permits were vacated following the first case in 2020.

A nonprofit called Preserve The Sandhills and the Rosebud Sioux Tribe of South Dakota seek a preliminary injunction in the U.S. Civil Court of Denver, where U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service personnel named in the case are based. The Fish and Wildlife Service approved a permit application filed by NPPD, which outlined a plan to minimize harm for the endangered American burying beetle, allowing the plans to move forward.

In a statement emailed to Nebraska Public Media News in April, a spokesperson for NPPD said the project “is desperately needed to improve reliability and reduce congestion on the Nebraska grid.” The utility said it followed all legal requirements in the Fish and Wildlife permitting process.