Generator — Fall 2024

GENERA OR
a publication of Loup Power District FALL 2024
Behind the Sc
Technology Power & the Resto
utility industry
2024 Retail
Top causes EnergyWise of Ince
electrical outages
Loup responds to mutual
aid call from OPPD

BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Bob Cerv
Chairman
Jim Donoghue
First Vice Chairman
Mike Fleming
Second Vice Chairman
Rich Aerni
Secretary
Dick Tooley
Treasurer
Alan Drozd
Steve Heesacker
Larry Zach
EXECUTIVE STAFF
Neal Suess
President/CEO
Walt Williams
Vice President,
Accounting & Finance/CFO
Todd Duren
Vice President,
Corporate Services
Korey Hobza
Vice President, Engineering
Dan Hellbusch
Vice President, Operations
The Loup Generator is
published quarterly
as a service for Loup
employees, families,
friends, and associates.
For feedback, story ideas,
and submissions, contact:
Stacy Wemhoff
Communications Coordinator
402-562-5711
swemhoff@loup.com
Protect yourself from cyber
criminals with these tips
Did you know the average household with
internet access owns about 17 connected
devices? That figure covers a wide range of
electronics, including smart phones, computers,
streaming devices, smart speakers,
home assistants and more. Given our
increasing reliance on internet-connected
technologies, the likelihood of cyber threats
is ever-present.
Loup Power District is committed to ensuring
our local system is safe and secure. We
routinely monitor and manage cyber risks,
and we work together with other utilities to
share the latest advancements in cybersecurity
measures that make us stronger.
October is National Cybersecurity Month,
and while good cyber hygiene should be
practiced year-round, we’d like to share a
few cybersecurity tips to help you bolster
your online safety.
Here are four easy ways to boost your
cyber hygiene:
Enable multi-factor authentication.
Also known as two-step verification,
multi-factor authentication adds a second
step when logging into an account to increase
security. This second step might mean
answering a security question or receiving
an email or text code. This additional step
makes it twice as hard for cyber criminals
to access your account. Not every account
offers multi-factor authentication, but it’s
becoming increasingly popular and should be
utilized when available.
Use strong passwords.
Remember, passwords are the “keys” to
your personal home online. Your passwords
should always be long, unique, and complex.
Create passwords using at least 12 characters
with a combination of uppercase and lowercase
letters, numbers and special characters.
If you have a lot of accounts, consider using
a password manager app to store them easily
and securely in one place.
Update software.
It may seem obvious, but regularly updating
software is one of the easiest ways to
keep your personal information secure. Most
companies provide automatic updates and
will send reminders so you can easily install
the update. If you’re not receiving automatic
software updates, set a reminder to do so
quarterly. Be aware that some cyber criminals
will send fake updates; these typically
appear as a pop-up window when visiting
a website. Use good judgement and always
think before you click.
Recognize and report phishing attacks.
Don’t take the bait when cyber criminals
go phishing. The signs of a phishing attack
can be subtle, so take the extra time to thoroughly
inspect emails. Most phishing emails
include offers that are too good to be true, an
urgent or alarming tone, misspellings and
poorly-crafted language, ambiguous greetings,
strange requests, or an email address
that doesn’t match the company it’s coming
from. Most platforms like Outlook, Gmail,
and Mac Mail allow users to report phishing
emails. If you suspect a phishing attempt,
take an extra minute to report it.
Visit www.staysafeonline.org for additional
cybersecurity tips.
2 | GENERATOR
ON THE COVER: OPPD’s mutual aid staging area at Baxter Arena. Courtesy photo: Omaha Public Power District.

president’s message
NPPD financing needs tied
to wholesale contract length
Over the past several months, Loup Power
District, along with other wholesale customers
of Nebraska Public Power District (NPPD),
have been working on economic development
efforts to bring several large energy users to
Nebraska.
Nebraska’s low-cost power and central
location are two of the main reasons for this
economic development growth.
Because of this, NPPD has been working with
its wholesale customers on new wholesale
power contracts and new load growth
procedures. NPPD’s estimates project the need
for substantial new generation growth over the
next 10–15 years.
In order to finance these new generation
additions, NPPD believes the need for new
wholesale power contracts with longer
termination provisions are necessary.
Finance discussions with NPPD have been
at the forefront of the new wholesale power
contract discussions, and there have been
many different ideas put forward by both
NPPD and the wholesale customers.
The current wholesale power contract is set to
expire in 2036, although there are provisions
to extend that deadline.
Many people wonder why financing needs to
be tied to the length of the wholesale contract.
The main reason is to have a revenue stream
to pay for the debt service associated with any
bond financing.
With new generation to come online, it is
preferred to tie financing to the useful life of
this new generation, generally set for thirty
years. Hopefully, most of this generation will
last longer than thirty years, but the 30-year
financing life is typical for generation-type
assets.
As an example, the Gerald Gentleman Station
has been in operation since 1979 (Unit 2 went
online in 1982), so you can see that these
two units, which have been the workhorse of
the NPPD fleet, have lasted for more than 40
years. Another example is the Cooper Nuclear
Station, which went online in the early 1970s,
and has been generating for more than 50
years.
These are unique examples, and it is not
expected that new generating units will be the
heavy-duty operators that NPPD currently has
in their fleet. NPPD also hopes GGS and CNS
will last a very long time. All these decisions
and discussions are part of the long-term
solution that NPPD is working on with its
customers.
Contract negotiations will continue
throughout the rest of 2024, and will hopefully
reach a conclusion within the next several
months. We will keep everyone updated as we
near completion.
Loup Power District is committed to finding
the best solution for all of Loup’s customers
and we work every day at doing what is best for
the entire Loup service area.
NEAL SUESS
President/CEO
FALL 2024 | 3

Loup responds to mutual
aid call from OPPD
OPPD's staging area at Baxter Arena. Courtesy photo: Omaha Public Power District.
The US National Weather Service
warned of stormy weather early in the
day on July 31.
By early afternoon, meteorologists
warned that storms were intensifying
in south central Nebraska and would
likely hit the Omaha and Lincoln areas
by early afternoon.
Their predictions were right.
Winds topping 90 miles per hour hit
the Omaha metro around dinner time.
At 8:30 p.m., Omaha Public Power
District announced that nearly
221,000 customers were without
power. It was also the largest outage in
the utility's history.
OPPD immediately launched a
historic restoration operation with a
team of 1,500 employees, retirees, and
mutual aid responders.
4 | GENERATOR

WHAT IS
MUTUAL AID?
Mutual aid is at the heart of what
public power does. At its core,
it’s about neighbors helping
neighbors—even when our
neighbor is a fellow utility hundreds
(or even thousands) of miles away.
The American Public Power
Association, together with state
and regional public power utilities
and organizations, coordinates the
mutual aid network for the nation’s
public power utilities.
Utilities that want to give and get
help for power restoration after a
disaster sign up to participate. The
network includes more than 1,100
utilities across the country.
The network also maintains a list of
independent contractors that can
be called upon when extra help is
needed.
When a major disaster hits a utility’s
territory and the utility knows that its
own crews and equipment won’t be
enough to restore power quickly, it
calls for mutual aid.
The utility provides its best estimate
of how many people it needs. It also
specifies equipment and material
needs. Other utilities in the network
respond with what they can offer.
The actual dispatch and movement
of crews from different utilities is
coordinated by utility and public
power association personnel who
volunteer as regional and national
mutual aid coordinators. Such
efforts require substantial logistics
management.
The utility that is requesting mutual
aid must make arrangements to
house, feed, and care for the crews
that come in from outside, and
provide them the necessary work/
safety briefings to do their jobs
effectively.
Requesting utilities generally send
their own employees out to support
visiting crews.
Who pays for mutual aid? Typically,
a public power utility requesting
help pays other utilities that send
help. Rates are determined through
agreements that are put in place
well in advance of a disaster.
Left: Line Technician Connor Neal. Right: Crew Leader Andy Wallin and Journey Line Tech Trey
Hamling. Photos by Dominic Zoucha.
Employees spend week in Omaha
Following OPPD's mutual aid
request, Loup managers determined
how many employees they could spare
and then asked for volunteers.
Twenty-three Loup employees
agreed to travel to Omaha to help
restore power, leaving at 5 a.m. the
morning after the storm.
They met up with other aid workers
and OPPD employees at a massive
staging area located at Baxter Arena.
“I'd never seen anything like that,”
said Joe Hubenka, Humphrey Local
Superintendent.
All the mutual aid crews —which
topped out at 175 — gathered at the
arena each morning at 6 a.m.
They ate breakfast and got instructions
from their external crew coordinator,
also known as a “bird dog.”
Then they grabbed a cold lunch and
headed out to work a 16-hour day.
Loup's employees immediately
realized how different this restoration
would be than many in their own service
area due to the amount of downed
trees and trouble getting to poles.
“Almost every pole we changed was
in the right-of-way where there were
no alleys,” Hubenka said.
He said many back yards were facing
each other and it was difficult to
get to the lines and poles.
Journey Line Technician Brandon
Ramaekers said some poles took a half
day to replace because it was difficult
and sometimes impossible to get large
equipment to the area.
That resulted in hand-digging
some pole holes.
Journey Line Technician Tommy
Wemhoff added that some alleys were
washed out and overgrown which
made if difficult to get Loup's big
trucks around.
A few residents gave Loup's crews
permission to remove fences or drive
on the lawn in order to help them
restore power more quickly.
Arborist Lead Trent Konwinski said
this storm demonstrated the importance
of tree trimming and maintenance
— both by utilities and homeowners.
“No one worries that their trees are
close to the power lines until there’s a
storm,” he said.
Loup’s employees noticed quite a
few of the trees that came down were
likely volunteer trees in alleys and
fencelines.
Crew Leader Mike Brabec said most
residents were happy to see their
trucks pull up in the neighborhood.
But sometimes they noticed that
workers were waiting in trucks. That's
simply because they were waiting on
the go-ahead to continue working.
“We were waiting on dispatch to
make sure no one else is in our area,”
he said.
Mutual aid crews could only work
on their circuit. That meant that one
neighbor sometimes got power
restored while another had to wait.
Loup employees explained the
process if questioned by OPPD customers.
— continued on page 6.
FALL 2024 | 5

“It does slow work down a bit in
terms of getting people back on, but
they have to do it for our safety and
for everybody else’s safety,” said Crew
Leader Andy Wallin.
The high temperatures were also a
factor early on, with highs reaching
the upper 90s during the first few days
of restoration work.
The crews worked each night until
about 8 p.m. before getting supper.
Their bird dog wanted them at their
hotel by 10 p.m., but sometimes it was
later.
They would get some rest before
getting up at 5 a.m. to do it all again.
OPPD had hundreds of employees
working behind the scenes. Many
coordinated hotel rooms, meals, and
snacks. Dozens of employees volunteered
to do laundry for the crews.
Wemhoff said the amount of work
that went into coordinating the restoration
effort and caring for mutual
aid workers was impressive — especially
since it was done overnight. “I
thought OPPD did a great job,” he said.
Journey Line Technician Jared
Hoefelman said he chose to volunteer
to help OPPD for several reasons. “It's
a good change of pace,” he said.
He thought it was interesting to see
how another utility handles things and
he enjoyed the challenge of restoring
power in difficult areas.
“We climbed more in the past two
weeks than we have in the last six to
eight months,” he said.
Journey Line Technician Cameron
Knopik works in Loup's Albion Division.
He really enjoyed the comaraderie
that came with working long days
with coworkers from the Columbus
and Fullerton Divisions.
Wallin said the best part of working
on a mutual aid crew is the gratitude
when people get their power back on.
“It’s pretty neat when you energize
a neighborhood and there are about
20 people outside clapping, thanking
us, running up to shake our hands,”
Wallin said.
“It’s makes it all worth it. All your
hard work is going somewhere.”
Journey Line Technician Jared Hoefelman.
Photo by Connor Neal.
OPPD estimates the storm cost at $30 million. That price tag includes equipment such as poles, transformers, crossarms, and
wire; damage to OPPD property; plus mutual aid and OPPD staff and crew pay for all the people working out in the field and
behind the scenes. They are expecting that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will cover much of the cost.
6 | GENERATOR
Aerial view of OPPD's staging area at Baxter Arena.
Courtesy photo: Omaha Public Power District.

Many of the damaged poles and downed tree limbs were in backyards that were difficult to access with large equipment.
Photos by Brandon Ramaekers.
Left: Crew Leader Andy Wallin and Journey Line Tech Trey Hamling.
Photo by Cam Knopik.
Above: Loup crews work in a damaged Omaha neighborhood.
Photo by Dominic Zoucha.
FALL 2024 | 7

IT Department evolves
alongside technology
Twenty years ago, Loup had a handful of computers
and just a few shared dial-up internet lines.
In 2001, Matt Swackhamer joined the District as
Supervisor of Information Services.
He and Marie Zach, who was then Data Processor,
worked together to assist employees with access
to technology.
They helped the accounting department with
billing, meter reading, and completing manual
backups. Most of Loup’s offices outside of Columbus
had no computers so they relied on the department
for printing of weekly reports.
Zach also posted every mailed in payment manually.
Today, the Information Technology (IT) department
has four full-time employees and one
part-time employee. The reason is simple: every
employee at Loup relies on technology in one way
or another.
“Ultimately it’s our job to help everyone else
do their job better in regard to technology,” said
Renae Schmidt, IT Systems Coordinator. “We have
to make sure their technology works for them when
they need to use it.”
She said that IT employees used to help out with
more basic tasks like printer problems and internet
maintenance.
And most of those time-consuming manual
tasks— like sending out bills and processing payments
— have been outsourced or made easier
through technology and automation.
Even so, the evolution of technology means
that IT must now assist every Loup employee. The
department helps support systems used by Meter
Maintenance including the Supervisory Control and
Data Acquisition (SCADA) system. IT helps maintain
iPads that Line Technicians use for outage mapping
and note taking. They ensure the network is working
properly so Engineering employees can update
District maps. And those are just a few examples.
In many ways, the IT department’s customers
are its coworkers.
“We have to partner with everybody now,”
Schmidt said.
Computer Support Specialist Michael Jones said
there have been a lot of maintenance items added
to the IT department responsibility list since he
started in 2009.
8 | GENERATOR

Matt Swackhamer
IT Manager
Renae Schmidt
IT Systems Coordinator
ABOVE: IT Systems Coordinator Renae Schmidt and It Manager Matt Swackhamer work in
the server room at the Columbus Service Center.
PAGE 8: IT Network Coordinator Caleb Bundy configures a network switch.
Michael Jones
Comp. Support Specialist
Caleb Bundy
IT Network Coordinator
This includes a multitude of cell phones,
computers, and printers. In addition, there are
now door badge readers, surveillance cameras,
wi-fi hotspots, and gas pumps that are hooked
up to the District’s network.
“Every year we add things to our support
network,” Schmidt said.
In addition to making sure those items are
working properly, IT employees need to make
sure the technology is always up to date and
employees are trained on how to use it.
Internet security and availability is also a
high priority for the Department.
IT Network Coordinator Caleb Bundy and
Part-Time Security Specialist Ed Dozler both
noted the increasing cybersecurity threats to
businesses and individuals.
“The more we rely on the internet, the more
important it is to recognize what is safe and
what poses a threat,” Dozler said.
Improving security can sometimes be a
frustration for employees because they need to
take extra steps to do their jobs.
“We have to find the right balance between
keeping the network secure and making sure
employees can do what they need to,” Schmidt
said.
Swackhamer said it can be difficult to predict
the future in terms of technology. Still, he
does his best to look forward and consider how
Loup can continue to evolve and prepare.
“We want to make sure we can take it from
today to tomorrow to next year,” he said.
Schmidt said that’s especially a concern in
terms of Loup’s network. She compared it to
a busy highway. Loup needs to look ahead and
consider widening the information highway
before traffic gets backed up.
“That way it’s a better experience when
people travel down that road.”
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY COSTS
EMPLOYMENT PROJECTION
Ed Dozler
PT Security Specialist
Gartner estimates global IT spending in the power
and utilities market to increase by 9.9% in 2024
to reach more than $212.6 billion, up from $193.4
billion in 2023. Spending is forecast to reach an
estimated $323.2 billion by 2028.
— Gartner, Inc.
Overall employment in computer and information
technology occupations is projected to grow
much faster than the average for all occupations
from 2023 to 2033. About 356,700 openings are
projected each year on average.
— U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
FALL 2024 | 9

A look back at Y2K
The Y2K problems started early.
It was the fault of the early computer programmers.
Memory was expensive in the 1960s. To save money,
they dropped the first two digits of the date. This strategy
reduced the size of stored data files and databases.
In the 1970s, some banks had problems with loans
that extended beyond 2000.
But the worry really started in 1993, when staff at
the North American Aerospace Defense Command
(NORAD) rolled their clocks forward to January 1, 2000.
The simulation caused a temporary system blackout.
In 1997, some customers were rejected at the register
when the credit-card terminals incorrectly interpreted
the 2000 expiration date. The machines believed
the cards were expired by 97 years.
As the media focused more and more on some
doomsday Y2K scenarios, people began to worry. They
bought generators and wood stoves and stocked up on
survival food, water and guns. There were concerns
about failures in air traffic control systems and the nation’s
power grid.
On the flip side, some local governments tried to
tamp down panic, telling residents that the only real
Y2K fear was fear itself.
But one thing was certain — nearly every business
in the country was spending time and money to
analyze their machines and software to make sure they
were ready.
And Loup was definitely ready.
The District was one of 36 utilities nationwide to
undergo a federal audit by the Department of Energy.
Following an evaluation at the end of July 1999, the
DOE gave Loup a perfect Level 3 designation.
“The favorable findings have added to my long-held
confidence that Loup will be Y2K ready,” said Owen
Lloyd, Loup’s Engineering manager in 1999.
Lloyd prepared a report on Loup’s Y2K preparedness
that was shared in the October 1999 edition of the
Generator.
“The prudent approach is to prepare for an outage
of short duration to restore the system in the event of a
cascading power outage,” he wrote.
Employees completed a physical inventory of all
substation, powerhouse, and office equipment to identify
items that used microprocessors in their operation.
They also contacted various manufacturers for confirmation
that the equipment was designed or tested
for Y2K compliance.
Loup spent about $300,000 on hardware and software
to make sure its systems were Y2K compliant.
That included upgrading some equipment that was due
to be replaced anyway because of age.
10 | GENERATOR

Loup’s leaders planned for two types of outages. Localized
outages might be caused by imbedded microprocessors
that might have been overlooked. They assumed
those outages could be fixed within 10 minutes.
Owen wrote that a national grid blackout could occur
if one utility would trip offline and cause excessive current
flow on neighboring systems that would then trip
offline.
But local utility officials stressed these were worstcase
scenarios. A wind storm would likely cause a longer
outage than Y2K.
Nebraska Public Power District advertised that they
were Y2K ready by mid-1999. “As of June 30, 1999, all
items critical or important to the operation of NPPD’s
electric system are ready to operate in the Year 2000”
noted an advertisement.
The ad noted that NPPD began preparedness efforts
in 1995, working with regional utilities, industry groups,
and government agencies to ensure the reliability of the
nation’s electric grid.
The cost was around $10 million for the five-year
project and included salaries, contractor assessments,
hardware installation and new computers.
It is estimated that the Y2K preparation cost $250
billion worldwide.
Loup had 40 employees on duty as midnight neared
on Dec. 31, 1999. They were monitoring the substations
and other areas.
Lloyd told the Columbus Telegram that despite two
years of preparation, he couldn’t guarantee that the
lights wouldn’t go out due to the nature of the national
grid.
“That’s why Loup is having select personnel work the
evening of Dec. 31,” he said. “The electric industry has
prepared extensively for this event.”
But as midnight struck across the country from east
to west, computers controlling the nation’s power grid
rolled over as they should.
Other industries fared the same. There were only a
few minor problems nationwide.
While some joked about the hyped up non-event,
supporters of the Y2K effort argued the reason things
went smoothly was primarily due to the actions of computer
programmers and information technology experts
who worked behind the scenes.
“If the year’s end was slightly anticlimactic (no Y2K
catastrophe), nobody in the electric utility industry
was ready to complain,” wrote then Communications
Coordinator Mark Miller in the February 2000 edition of
the Generator. “Sometimes boring is good, especially if
it means the electricity keeps flowing without interruption.”
FALL 2024 | 11

WHAT
CAUSES
ELECTRICAL
OUTAGES?
EQUIPMENT
841 outages
18.3%
Region 9
More than 5.3 million customers were affected by 73,694
sustained outages in 2023 according to data submitted
by more than 320 public power utilities to the
American Public Power Association.
Understanding the causes of these outages helps public
power utilities identify and prioritize areas for improvement
to retain their reliability edge.
STORM
502 outages
22.2%
Region 6
Across all regions, public power customers experienced, on average,
less than one sustained outage per year. Those outages were shorter
than those of customers of other utility types.
TOP 10 OUTAGE CAUSES IN 2023
NATIONWIDE
LOUP POWER
OUTAGE CAUSE TOTAL
OUTAGE CAUSE
TOTAL
Tree 8,503
Planned Outage 93
Equipment 8,205
Equipment 44
Squirrel 7,196
Animals 19
Unknown 6,992
Unknown 15
Storm/Weather 5,471
Lightning 15
Weather 4,329
Tree 14
Other Wildlife 4,193
Storm 9
Planned Equip. Replacement 2,785
Wind 8
Electrical Failure 2,511
Auto Accident 7
Bird 2,506
Ice/Snow 4
12 | GENERATOR

SQUIRREL
1,036 outages
19.2%
Region 3
STORM
1,492 outages
24.5%
Region 2
PLANNED
EQUIP
REPLACEMENT
387 outages
14.5%
Region 8
ELEC FAILURE
220 outages
10.4%
Region 1
EQUIPMENT
691 outages
8.6%
Region 4
TREES
4,436 outages
14.8%
Region 7
EQUIPMENT
2,051 outages
16.8%
Region 5
2023 Loup Power Reliability Index: 99.9953%.
Outages by Month
Nationwide
The summer months
have the highest volume
of outages, with nearly
35% of outages
in June-August.
7,000
6,000
5,000
4,000
3,000
2,000
1,000
0
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
FALL 2024 | 13

employee notes
TONY DUBAS
Journey Line Technician
Tony Dubas joined
Loup in 1999 as a
Line Technician
in the Fullerton
Division and was
promoted to Journey
Line Technician
in 2005.
He is member of
the crew that is
responsible for
the construction,
operation, and
maintenance of electric transmission
and distribution systems and substations
in the Fullerton Division.
Dubas is a graduate of Fullerton High
School and earned an Associate of
Applied Science Degree in Utility Line
from Northeast Community College.
He and his wife, Jennifer, are the
parents of four children: TJ, Fletcher,
Cael, and Charli.
SHARI CROMWELL
Customer Billing Coordinator
Shari Cromwell
joined Loup in 2014
as Customer Service
Representative
at the Columbus
General Office.
In 2017, she was
promoted to Lead
Customer Service
Representative and
was promoted to
Customer Billing
Coordinator earlier
this year.
Cromwell is responsible for reviewing
and processing all of the District’s
billings; coordinating readings, billings,
and delinquencies; reconciling District
meter inventory; and assisting staff and
customers with inquiries.
Cromwell is a graduate of Monroe High
School. She and her husband, John,
are the parents of two married children:
Austin (Paige) Cromwell and Aiden
(Jennifer) Cromwell; and two grandchildren,
Drake and Gwendolyn.
14 | GENERATOR
25 YEARS
10 YEARS
SCOTT GOTTSCH
Equipment Operator
Scott Gottsch joined
Loup in 1998 as a
Maintenance Man at
the Genoa Headworks.
In 2000, he
was promoted to
Carpenter/Utilityman
on the Canal
Crew based out
of the Columbus
Service Center.
Gottsch was
promoted to
Headgates Operator at the Genoa
Headworks in 2008 and transferred to
the position of Storekeeper I in 2016.
He was promoted to Equipment Operator
in 2023.
In his most recent role, Gottsch operated
the District’s heavy equipment
and was part of the crew that performs
maintenance on the canal system from
Genoa to Columbus.
He also worked at the two powerhouses
when needed, helped build
substations, and maintained District
parks and lakes.
Gottsch is a graduate of Monroe High
School. He and his wife, Sandy, are
the parents of three children: Kelly,
Megan and Courtney. They have nine
grandchildren.
JEREMY MOORE
Equipment Operator
Jeremy Moore
transferred to Equipment
Operator at the
Columbus Service
Center in August.
Moore joined Loup
Power District as
a Plant Operator
in 2019. In 2023,
he transferred to
Utility Arborist at the
Columbus Service
Center and stayed
in that position until this transfer.
RETIRED
TRANSFER
In his new role, Moore operates the
District’s heavy equipment and is part
of the crew that performs maintenance
on the canal system from Genoa to
Columbus. He also works at the two
powerhouses when needed, helps
build substations, and maintains District
parks and lakes.
Moore is a graduate of Cedar Rapids
High School. He and his wife, Carri,
have three sons — Talon, Parker, and
Barrett.
ANDY ZAREK
Headgates Operator
Andy Zarek joined
Loup in 1999 as
a Maintenance
Man at the Genoa
Headworks. He
was promoted to
Equipment Operator
in 2005 and was
named Dredge
Operator in 2015.
In 2016, Zarek was
promoted to his
current position of
Headgates Operator. His primary duty
is to regulate the flow of the Loup River
into the Loup Power canal at the Genoa
Headworks.
He is also responsible for operating
the gates as well as keeping them free
of ice and debris. He also oversees
and assists in the maintenance of the
Headworks area.
Zarek is a graduate of Genoa High
School. He studied Machine Tool
Technology at Central Community
College. He and his wife, Nichole, are
the parents of two children, Keaton and
Tayla.
TODD DUREN
Vice President of Corporate Services
Todd Duren joined
Loup as Vice President
of Corporate
Services in 2019.
In this role, Duren is
responsible for oversight
of the following
District departments
— Development/
Marketing, Information
Technology,
25 YEARS
5 YEARS

Human Resources, Communications,
and Safety and Training.
He also oversees regulatory compliance
in the HR and safety areas and
provides leadership on economic
development and public relations
projects.
Duren is a graduate of Scotus Central
Catholic High School. He earned a
degree in Civil Engineering from the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
He and his wife, Lisa, have three children
— Anthony; Morgan; and Jared,
and his wife Elizabeth.
KEITH SHONKA
Meter Relay and Equipment Technician Sr.
Keith Shonka joined
Loup in 1989 as
Second Assistant
Plant Operator
at the Columbus
Powerhouse.
He was promoted
to First Assistant
Plant Operator in
1990 and Plant
Operator in 1991.
He transferred to
Meter Relay and
Equipment Technician I in the Meter
and Maintenance Department at the
Columbus Service Center in 1994.
He was promoted to Meter Relay and
Equipment Technician Senior in 2019.
35 YEARS
Shonka is on the team that is responsible
for installation and maintenance
of substation power equipment.
The team’s duties include operating
equipment that switches electric power
between substations and transmission
lines, relay maintenance and testing,
and designing substation control
wiring.
Shonka is a native of Surprise and a
graduate of David City Aquinas High
School. He holds an Associate of
Applied Science Degree in Electrical
Technology from Southeast Community
College in Milford.
Shonka and his wife, Karen, are the
parents of four children: Jacob, Katie,
Nicolas, and Benjamin. They have six
grandchildren.
BEAU SCHOMMER
Journey Line Technician
Beau Schommer has
been promoted to
Journey Line Technician
at Loup Power
District.
Line technicians
must work through a
progression schedule
demonstrating
competence in
the field in order
to earn the promotion.
Requirements
include length of employment, work
performance, supervisor’s recommendation,
and test scores.
PROMOTION
Schommer joined Loup Power District
as a Line Technician in 2019. He is a
member of the crew that is responsible
for the construction, operation and
maintenance of electric transmission
and distribution systems in the Columbus
area.
Schommer graduated from Norfolk
Catholic High School and earned his
Utility Line degree from Northeast
Community College.
CHRIS SHANK
Civil Engineering Compliance Technician
Christopher Shank joined Loup Power
District as Civil Engineering Compliance
Technician at the Columbus
General Office in
2019.
In this role, he
ensures Loup
complies with federal
and state regulatory
agencies. He oversees
construction
and inspections of
hydro projects and
serves as a liason to
the Federal Energy
5 YEARS
Regulatory Commission.
His duties
also include coordinating the District’s
Emergency Action Plan and preparing and
maintaining Engineering project reports.
Shank graduated from Columbus High
School and received his Bachelor of
Science Degree in Fisheries and Wildlife
from UNL.
DEVON BORCHERS
Line Technician
Devon Borchers
has joined Loup as
a Line Technician
based out of the
Columbus Service
Center.
Borchers is a
member of the crew
that is responsible
for the construction,
operation and maintenance
of electric
transmission and
distribution systems in the Columbus
area.
WELCOME
He is a graduate of Scotus Central
Catholic High School and earned an
associate degree in utility line from
Northeast Community College.
Loup pays $1.3
million to area
communities
Loup Power District delivered
lease payments totaling more
than $1.3 million to area
communities in August.
Each of these communities
owns their electric distribution
systems. These payments
compensate them for the use
of those systems for the second
quarter of 2024.
Communities use the funds for
a variety of public projects.
Public power utilities provide
a direct benefit to their
communities in the form of
payments and contributions to
local and state governments.
Loup Power District gives 9
percent of its annual revenues
back to state and local
governments throughout the
year.
Learn more by visiting our press
releases page at loup.com.
SUMMER 2024 | 15

2404 15th Street | PO Box 988
Columbus, NE 68602-0988
NEBRASKA is the ONLY STATE served
entirely by PUBLIC POWER electric utilities.
Every year, Loup pays
$5.9 MILLION
to our communities
(lease payments)
In total, Nebraska’s
electric utilities pay
$100 million+ to
local governments.
$2.3 MILLION
to our counties
(in-lieu-of-tax payments)
AFFORDABLE
$3.56/day
Average cost to power a
Nebraska home and everything in it.
Loup’s rates are
9.5% the STATE avg
30.3% the NATIONAL avg
RELIABLE
U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT ranked
Nebraska first in power grid reliability
in its Best States 2023 report.
LOUP RELIABILITY: 99.9%
ENERGY EFFICIENCY
Loup partners with Nebraska Public Power
District to offer energy efficiency incentives.
WE PAY CUSTOMERS
about $300,000 PER YEAR.