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SUMMARY OF PUBLIC POWER IN NEBRASKA <br /> In the early 1900's, there was a lack of sufficient Platte River flow during the <br /> irrigation ti <br /> on season. Storage of water was necessary provide irrigation service <br /> needed to grow crops during the hot summers. <br /> During the 1920's, storage projects were conceived by USBR that would store <br /> water during the non-irrigation season for use during the irrigation season. <br /> The drought of the 1930's provided the impetus needed to get the projects <br /> started. The Nebraska Legislature passed Senate File 310 in 1933 which <br /> authorized public power and irrigation districts. The PVPP&ID was formed that <br /> same year, and construction started on the Sutherland Project in 1934. Project <br /> financing was accomplished through loans from the Federal Public Works <br /> Administration, who required the project to have hydro generation as a means <br /> of amortizing the debt. <br /> In the late 1930's and early 1940's, efforts to sell power output to the private <br /> power companies failed. So Consumers Public Power District was formed to <br /> buy up the private companies and serve the retail electric needs. The purchases <br /> were financed by revenue bonds issued through Wall Street banks. <br /> At the same time, the Platte, Loup and Tri-County hydro districts formed the <br /> NPPS to transmit and generate power at the wholesale level. <br />