Generator — Fall 2025

GENERA OR
a publication of Loup Power District FALL 2025
IN THIS ISSUE:
How cost-of-service studies
determine customer rates
Line tech internship program
benefits students and Loup
Harold Kramer and the American
Public Power Association

BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Jim Donoghue
Chairman
Mike Fleming
First Vice Chairman
Rich Aerni
Second Vice Chairman
Larry Zach
Secretary
Dick Tooley
Treasurer
Bob Cerv
Alan Drozd
Steve Heesacker
Dana Schultz
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
PUBLIC POWER SAVINGS
Providing better service doesn’t just make customers happier — it
leads to savings through reduced lost time, avoiding costly backup
power, and not having to discard and replace food or medicine that
needed refrigeration. That’s on top of the low public power rates and
energy incentives that public power companies offer to customers.
Lower Bills
Public power residential customers saved an average of $191.97
on their electric bills compared to customers of other utilities in
2023.
$4.2 billion
That’s
public power residential customers save each year
across the U.S. from rates alone. 1
Less Disruption
Public power customers also have more time with the lights on.
On average, public power customers have 72 fewer minutes of
outages every year. That translates to 25.6 million hours with
power that would have been lost if served by another utility type.
That’s
$112.5 million
that public power residential customers didn’t lose to outages. 2
Higher Community Support
Further, public power utilities give 9% more to their communities
than for-profit utilities.
Across the U.S., that’s $286,856,000
more going to public power communities than
investor-owned utilities would have paid in taxes. 3
1
Savings extrapolated from average bills customers of each utility type, based on average revenue per kilowatt hour
and average electric usage for residential customers of public power, cooperative, and investor-owned utilities.
Averages based on data reported to the Energy Information Administration, Form 861 for 2023.
2
Based on reliability data submitted to EIA for 2023 for utilities using the IEEE standards for SAIDI, SAIFI, and CAIDI.
Associated cost savings derived from the difference in these metrics from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s
Interruption Cost Estimator Calculator.
3
Median payments for public power and IOUs based on data in the Public Power Pays Back report from May 2024.
2 | GENERATOR
Cover photo: Clarkson Local Superintendent Josh Siebrandt working at Behlen Manufacturing Co.

president’s message
Yearly cost-of-service studies
determine customer rates
I have read many thoughts recently from
individuals around the United States asking
about how often electric utilities perform
cost-of-service and rate studies. We
generally perform these studies every year
here at Loup Power District.
The next question that comes up is “How
are cost-of-service studies developed and
how are rates determined?” That is a fair
question, and the answer is very detailed.
We first develop our construction and
operating budgets for the next year. This
includes all of our expected expenses and
what is planned for the upcoming budget
year. This includes our daily operating
and maintenance expenses, as well as our
expected purchased power costs from NPPD,
which makes up approximately 70 percent of
our budget. These expenses set the minimum
amount of dollars needed to develop our
overall revenue requirements for the
upcoming years.
We next look at the amount of energy that
we plan to sell to our end-use customers.
An estimate of monthly demand (kW) and
energy (kWh) usage for the next year is
developed. Then amounts for each customer
class are calculated using historical data to
develop trends for each class of customer.
The overall revenue requirements are broken
down by account and allocated to each
customer class based on allocators developed
from projected and historical usage patterns.
There is a lot of detail that goes into this
development, but at the end, there is an
estimated revenue requirement for each
customer class that is to be collected.
Using the demand and energy for each
customer class, rates are developed by taking
the estimated revenue requirements and
dividing them by the amount of demand
and energy expected to be sold to end-use
customers. This is how the billing rate is
determined and what is used to bill our
customers for the electricity consumed.
This is a detailed process, but I am happy to
say this gets reviewed by management and
the Board of Directors every year, and the
development of the rates for our customers
is not taken lightly. It is an intricate process,
and many parts are involved to come up with
the electric rate schedules that you can view
on our website.
I am also glad to say I have been able to
perform most of these studies over the
years. Previous to my time at Loup Power
District, I performed cost-of-service and
rate studies for utilities across the United
States, and I brought that knowledge with me
when I came to the District. It is something
that I enjoy putting together, and I love the
entire process. Working with all areas of the
District and the Board of Directors to develop
rates for all of our customers is extremely
satisfying.
We are beginning the development of retail
rates for 2026 and should be finalizing these
in the next several months. I wanted to let
you know a little about the process.
More information regarding budget
development and rate setting levels will
be forthcoming in the near future. District
management and the Board of Directors want
to do what is best for all of our customers to
ensure we can provide electricity at the most
reliable and affordable levels.
NEAL SUESS
President/CEO
FALL 2025 | 3

Internship program benefits
Loup and utility line students
Tanner Nelson has always been interested in electricity.
He wasn’t sure if he wanted to go to college, so he started
working as an apprentice electrician. He soon figured out
it wasn’t the best fit for him.
Then he saw a video of a lineworker dangling from a
helicopter to work on power lines. Nelson thought that
looked amazing and it sparked an idea.
“I decided I’d be the first one to go to college in my
family,” he said.
Nelson is one of four interns working at Loup Power
District this summer following their first year in the
Utility Line Program at Northeast Community College in
Norfolk.
Loup hosts up to four interns each summer. Students
in the program must complete an internship before
continuing to their second and final year.
Columbus Crew Leader Mike Brabec said Loup employees
teach the students a variety of skills. These include
understanding what each piece of equipment is called,
what it’s used for, and how to use it correctly. The
students also become familiar with the trucks.
Vice President of Operations Dan Hellbusch said students
also work both on underground and overhead lines.
“We try to give them a vast experience,” he said.
Most students are eager for this kind of work after a year
of heavy classroom studies.
“It’s a lot more than what I expected,” said Nelson, who
is from Columbus and working with the Columbus crews.
Above: Kansas native
Hunter Holmgren working
in Tarnov.
Page 5
Top left: Justin Horn
working in Fullerton.
Top right: Crew Leader
Dan Quinn and Tanner
Nelson in Columbus.
Bottom left: Aiden
Norman working in
Lindsay with the Albion
team.
Hunter Holmgren is from Kansas and working with the
Humphrey line crew this summer. He also was eager to
get into the field this summer.
“I’m learning a lot more hands-on stuff out here,” he
said.
Fullerton native Aiden Norman is working out of Albion.
He’s following in the footsteps of his dad and brothers
who are lineworkers.
“I’ve always been interested in it,” he said. “And I went
to school and I liked it a lot.”
Justin Horn is back in his hometown of Fullerton for his
internship.
He decided to pursue a career in utility line after talking
to a family members about the job.
“I like doing hands-on stuff and working outside,” he
said. “So I thought it would be a good career for me.”
4 | GENERATOR

He has learned how to put down the truck outriggers, set
poles, and more.
“It’s definitely a good learning experience,” Horn said.
Hellbusch said it’s not just the interns who gather
valuable knowledge over the summer.
“The big advantage is we’ve pretty much got a 100% hire
who you know is going to work out,” he said.
In a way, internships are a preliminary job interview.
Hellbusch said Loup employees work hard to teach the
interns so that if there is a lineworker vacancy, Loup
employees know that the applicant is well trained and
prepared.
Human Resources Manager Amanda Henry agreed.
“It’s a great recruiting tool,” she said. “Loup employees
can see the interns’ skills and dependability and how well
they work in a team.”
Nelson isn’t regretting his move from electrician to
utility line.
“I’m liking it,” he said. “I think I’m going to like it
forever.”
FALL 2025 | 5

HAROLD KRAMER:
Loup’s Guiding Light’
Kramer was instrumental in bringing the Loup
River Public Power District project to fruition.
He also helped organize the American Public
Power Association, which is celebrating
its 85th anniversary this year.
Thirty-six Columbus businessmen
met at the Thurston hotel at noon on
Sept. 15, 1932.
They were called there by Phil
Hockenberger who wanted to revive
a decades-old plan to create a Loup
River power canal.
He wanted to take advantage of
funds from the Reconstruction Finance
Corporation (RFC) that were
dedicated for public projects throughout
the country.
The proposal generated interest
and excitement. A canal would bring
electricity to the area. It would also
create jobs at a time when employment
opportunities were scarce.
They formed a seven-person committee
to investigate the possibility
forming a power district and obtaining
funding.
Hockenberger’s good friend, Harold
Kramer, was an ardent supporter of
the plan. The committee asked him
to travel to Lincoln to apply for water
rights at the Department of Public
Works.
That meeting ignited a flame in
Kramer that led to a decades-long
career at Loup Power District and a
lifelong drive to bring public power to
the state and nation.
‘WHITE COAL’
Harold Kramer was born in Columbus
in 1892. He graduated high school
in 1909 and attended the University of
Chicago until 1912.
He worked with his father at the
Kramer Koal Kompany in Columbus
for a few years before joining the Army
in World War I.
Then he homesteaded in Wyoming
for two years before returning home
to take over the family business, selling
it in 1932.
He was already heavily involved in
public service. He was a member of
the American Legion and served on
Chamber of Commerce committees.
He was passionate about road improvement
and advocated for the Meridian
Viaduct over the Union Pacific
tracks in 1931.
But there was something else he
needed to add to his list — the Loup
Project.
A couple of weeks after that initial
meeting, he was part of a delegation
that met with senator George Norris to
promote the project under provisions
of the RFC.
The delegation reported that Norris
was in favor of the idea.
“I feel that there exists in Nebraska
a great amount of ‘white coal’ which
should be harnessed, and I am in
hopes that engineers will find your
project favorable,” Norris said, according
to their report.
ENGINEERING SURVEYS
The Loup River Water Development
Committee organized a public meeting
on Oct. 11, 1932. Experts reported that
soil conditions, geological structure,
and constant water supply were favorable
for the project.
Kramer told those in attendance
that he didn’t want to “throw cold
water” on the idea but cautioned them
against getting their hopes too high.
“It is a wonderful project,” he
said. “But it must be determined yet
whether it can produce electricity
cheaper than the coal, natural gas,
or diesel engine plants and what the
market will be for the electricity.”
Later that month, Kramer traveled
to Kansas City with August Wagner
and Hockenberger to meet with engineering
firm Burns & McDonnell.
They submitted a survey and report
made in 1911 for a similar project that
failed to materialize. After reviewing
the report, the firm announced
that the project was “meritorious and
feasible.”
But there was a downside to that
news: it was going to cost nearly
$10,000 to employ the firm to complete
new engineering surveys.
Local businessmen pledged large
and small amounts to the campaign
and soon they had enough to commission
the survey.
6 | GENERATOR

THE ENABLING ACT
Then Kramer began to tackle the
next hurdle — passage of Senate File
310, also called the Enabling Act. The
bill would allow the creation of public
power and irrigation districts and allow
them to borrow federal funds to
finance projects.
On April 15, 1933, the Columbus
Telegram reported that Kramer
returned to Columbus from Lincoln
where he had “represented the local
committee for the past 40 days in the
matter of furnishing information to
the legislators relative to the merits of
the Columbus Loup River Project.”
A few days later, Governor Charles
Bryan signed the bill into law.
‘HAPPY DAYS’
Passage of the Enabling Act was a
big win for the Development Committee.
But it wasn’t a guarantee that they
could form a public power district.
The act required the approval of at
least 15% of voters in the project’s
boundary.
Those signatures were presented
to the State Department of Roads and
Irrigation in May 1933, and Loup River
Public Power District was formally
created on June 1.
In early June 1933, the temporary
board of directors became permanent.
They were nearly ready to submit a
federal funds application to the RFC.
The board delegated Secretary
Kramer to go to Washington, D.C.,
to determine all the regulations and
requirements before filing a formal
application.
While he was there, the Public
Works Administration (PWA) was
established as part of President Franklin
D. Roosevelt’s New Deal. It aimed
to stimulate the economy by funding
large-scale construction projects.
Many applications, including Loup’s,
were transferred to the PWA.
In a letter to the Columbus Telegram,
Kramer was cautiously optimistic.
“Regarding the power canal, which
is my sole business mission here,
while I would not say that we have it in
the bag; nevertheless, it is my opinion
that our chances are good,” he said.
After two months, Kramer returned
home to continue his work. And finally,
the PWA announced a $7.3 million
loan and grant from the PWA.
The date was Nov. 15, 1933 —
Kramer’s 41st birthday.
“Happy days are here” the Columbus
Telegram noted. The paper also
lauded Kramer’s valiant efforts.
“For more than a year he has labored
day and night on its behalf with
the persistence, resourcefulness and
thoroughness that are so characteristic
of him.”
But he still had more work to do.
GENERAL MANAGER
On June 4, 1934, the Board of Directors
voted to install Kramer as Secretary
and General Manager. He would
have general supervision of the business
while being subject to the board
of directors.
“Mr. Kramer, more than any other
one man here, through his indefatigable
work in its behalf, has been
responsible for the success of the
canal project to date, members of the
board say,” reported the Columbus
Telegram.
Over the following months, Kramer
worked to secure the project funding,
award engineering bids, and start
excavation.
Excavation began on Oct. 15, 1934,
at the James Donoghue farm seven
miles northwest of Columbus.
Both powerhouses were operational
by the end of 1938. Transmission lines
from Omaha to Lincoln, Grand Island
to Lincoln, and Hastings to Lincoln
were all under construction — funded
in part by an additional $2.3 million
loan and grant.
The District switched from its
FALL 2025 | 7

construction period to operation on
September 1, 1938.
The plant’s output was approximately
4,000 kW.
Customers included the North Loup
and Middle Loup Power Districts;
Howard, Southern Nebraska, Platte,
Cuming, and Lancaster rural electrification
districts; Western Public
Service Company; the Platte Valley
District powerhouse at North Platte;
and Tri-County’s substation at Hastings.
PUBLIC POWER PROMOTION
During the project construction,
Kramer began looking forward to the
future of public power.
He made several trips to D.C. and
New York to discuss the purchase of
private utility companies in Nebraska.
At one meeting in June 1937,
Kramer voiced his opinion that the
absorption of private companies
would become a reality.
“There is a gradual but increasing
sentiment that power plants should
be transferred from private hands to
public ownership,” he said.
In early 1939, Kramer frequented
Lincoln to voice opposition to Legislative
Bill 135, which would require
8 | GENERATOR
public power districts to get the vote
of the people before buying any existing
electric system.
“They might as well come right
out in the open and pass a bill forbidding
public power districts to buy any
private utilities because that is the
thinly disguised objective of LB 185 in
its present form,” he said.
The bill was killed that May.
A PUBLIC POWER STATE
The door was now open, and Loup
was ready to purchase private power
companies. But it had debt obligations
to the PWA, posing a funding problem.
On Aug. 5, 1939, the same men who
organized the Loup project created
Consumers Public Power District to
facilitate the purchase of those companies.
Its members included the state’s
three hydros: Loup, Platte Valley, and
Central Nebraska (Tri-County).
In October 1939, Consumers assumed
operation of the Columbus
division of the Northwestern Public
Service Company through a leasepurchase
agreement. It purchased the
company in July 1940 with $1.2 million
in bonds. It was the first acquisition
of a private utility by a public power
district through bond issue.
The following year, Kramer helped
facilitate the unification of the three
hydros to pool generation and revenue.
This agreement created the
Nebraska Public Power System (later
known as Nebraska Public Power
District).
By the end of 1943, Consumers
Public Power District acquired all
generation and distribution facilities
across the state except for Nebraska
Power Company in Omaha. The cost
was more than $40 million paid for by
revenue bonds.
In 1944, a group of Omaha citizens
formed the Omaha Electric Committee,
Inc., a nonprofit corporation to
obtain public ownership of Nebraska
Power Company.
That December, Loup created an
Eastern Division and issued revenue
bonds to finance a $15.6 million loan
to the committee for its purchase of
Nebraska Power.
Two years later, Omaha Public
Power District closed its purchase
of the Nebraska Power Company
from the committee at a price of $42
million, financed by revenue bonds.
Included in the purchase price was
$13.5 million that was used to repay

Loup in full.
Getting public power to Omaha was
suggested by Kramer way back in 1938.
“Benefits to the Omaha electric
consumers, both large and small, is
the incentive which motivates the
Loup River Public Power District in its
desire to bring public ownership of the
electric utility in your city,” he said.
His dream of a fully public powered
state was finally realized.
THE NATIONAL STAGE
By 1941, Kramer’s impact on public
power was already recognized. An article
in the May 14 issue of the Columbus
Telegram called him the “guiding
light and guardian of the Loup River
Public Power District.”
“Kramer’s whole life since 1932 has
been wrapped up in the broad program
of publicly owned electric power in
Nebraska,” the article continued. “As
the executive head of the big hydro
district, he has conceived and brought
to success a myriad of plans for its
extension and solidarity. The history
books do not yet tell of Harold Kramer’s
prominence in the expansion of
that program, nor are they likely to
ever tell the whole story.”
Kramer wasn’t satisfied with
bringing public power to the state. He
wanted to bring it to the nation.
In December 1941, The Columbus
News announced that Kramer was to
head the nation’s power research.
“Harold Kramer, secretary and
general manager of the Loup River
Public Power District, is the nation’s
No. 1 man in public power circles,
according to word received in Columbus
yesterday,” the paper reported.
“Kramer has been in Washington several
weeks and it has been announced
that he has been made general manager
of the American Public Power
Association.”
The new organization was made up
of public power districts throughout
the country with a goal of coordinating
public power information.
The APPA was organized in 1940 but
lacked the funds to employ an experienced
manager, according to Sewell
Wingfield of the PWA.
So he persuaded Loup Power District
to lend Kramer in an effort to save
the organization.
“The excellent work which Harold
Kramer, so studiously, relentlessly
and unselfishly performed, under the
most difficult and trying circumstances,
was responsible for saving APPA
and laying the groundwork, which has
enabled it to grow and take its place as
one of the important and influential
organizations in America,” Wingfield
wrote.
Kramer worked for the APPA for six
months. Supervising Engineer Fred
Albert acted as General Manager in his
absence.
The June 24, 1942, issue of APPA’s
newsletter noted Harold’s absence
after Loup’s board of directors requested
that he return to Columbus.
“The past two weeks found your
editor busy lacing up a big pair of
shoes left here by Harold Kramer,”
noted the newsletter.
“This Association expresses its
sincere thanks to the Loup System
and its board for their generosity in
making it possible for Harold to render
the fine services he did for the past six
months.”
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
For the next few years, Kramer
continued to serve as Loup’s GM and
advocate for public power interests.
In April 1946, he headed to Washington,
D.C., to negotiate Loup’s
purchase of a 92-acre tract on the east
side of Columbus from the federal
governnment’s War Assets Administration.
The land was intended for a wartime
aluminum extrusion plant that
did not materialize.
The goal was to expand the electrical
market while also providing economic
development for the city.
The plan was approved that year.
The first tract was sold to Behlen
Manufacturing.
“The Loup River Public Power District
directors invested some $25,000
in cooperative, nonprofit enterprise
to provide industrial sites with trackage,
highway connections, natural
gas, electricity and other utilities for
With a background of 39-cent bargains in the Fricke Drug store here, these men
this week discussed power deals running into millions of dollars as Guy Myers,
Wall Street financier, sought renewal of his contract as the fiscal agent for the
Loup River Public Power District. C.B. Fricke, druggist and Loup president, is at
the left seated next to Myers who is “bounded on the right” by Paul Nitze, wealthy
young broker who is helping to finance Myers in his negotiations to purchase
private utilities for the district. At right is Harold Kramer. The district tonight acts
on the renewal of Meyers’ contract. World-Herald photo by Jack Kintzi.
— Columbus Telegram, June 10, 1939
FALL 2025 | 9

anyone who wanted to build a factory,”
he wrote in a letter to the editor in 1946.
“The value of it is evident to anyone
who has inspected the new Behlen Manufacturing
Company plant, employing
approximately one hundred people, many
of them G. I.’s. Already we have two other
very good prospects for manufacturing
institutions,” he continued.
The site is believed to be the first of its
kind in the United States.
A SHOCKING DEATH
While en route home from that negotiation
meeting in Washington, Kramer
suffered a heart attack.
He spent a few weeks in a New York
hospital before returning to Columbus
and spending some time at St. Mary’s
hospital. He was back to work in a few
months.
Three years later, Kramer headed
back to Washington with John Preston,
President of the Board of Directors. They
asked the Rural Electrification Administration
for financing to help the hydros
expand their generation and transmission
systems.
He then flew to Durham, N.C., to meet
with a leading heart specialist.
He died of a heart attack hours before
his appointment. He was 56.
Loup’s Board of Directors passed a
special resolution the following day and
the Nebraska Legislature stood in silent
tribute.
And then words of shock and sympathy
came to Columbus from around the
state and nation.
Then-mayor Lee Nauenburg said
Kramer was responsible for the majority
of city improvements.
“His foresightedness and planning for
future developments and improvements
was greater than any other man in the
community,” he said.
H.P. Behlen, Chamber of Commerce
President, agreed.
“Harold’s guiding hand and capacity
of getting things done for his community
was ever present, no matter what the
task,” he said.
“Practically every worthwhile accomplishment
for the betterment of Columbus
in the past 20 years has had Harold
Kramer in on it in some way or another.”
Claude Wickard, Administrator of the
Rural Electrification Administration, was
one of many who reacted to the loss.
“The public power people of the country
have lost one of their outstanding
pioneers.”
10 | GENERATOR

ADVANCING A COMMON PURPOSE:
Reflecting on 85 years of a mission for public power
By Susan Partain, director, content strategy, American Public Power Association
The American Public Power Association’s founding was
thanks to a group of leaders that fought not only to develop
or retain public ownership in their communities but had
the passion and vision to support others in doing so.
E.F. Scattergood, who helped establish the electric services
arm of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power
(LADWP) in the 1910s, led efforts to develop an association
starting as early as 1934, when leaders gathered in Kansas
City to attempt to form the National
Association of Municipal Utilities.
While that effort failed to get off
the ground, Scattergood and
other prominent leaders kept
up the drum beat to form an
alliance that would promote
“competent and non-political
administration of publicly
owned electric utilities.”
In September 1940, a group of
about 40 public power utility
leaders from across the country
gathered in Washington, D.C.,
to officially form the American
Public Power Association. The
meeting was timed to coincide
with a government-sponsored
meeting on national defense,
which various public power
utility leaders were attending.
The meeting included
representatives from public
power entities big and small
and some federal agencies.
In addition to establishing
the organization, the utility
representatives selected APPA’s
first board of directors, naming
James Donovan of Kansas City
president, Scattergood first vice president, and Frank King,
superintendent of utilities in Burlington, Vermont, as
executive vice president. The first board met in Kansas City
in October 1940, and included representatives from more
than a dozen utilities across the U.S.
No official offices or dedicated association staff existed
until fall 1941, when Harold Kramer, secretary and general
manager of Loup Power District in Nebraska, agreed to
serve temporarily as APPA’s first “secretary-manager”
and set up a small office in Washington, D.C. He led the
association from November 1941 to June 1942.
Prior to being central in getting APPA off the ground,
The American Public Power Association
is the voice of not-for-profit, communityowned
utilities that power approximately
2,000 towns and cities nationwide.
APPA represents public power before
the federal government to protect the
interests of the more than 55 million
people that public power utilities serve
across the United States and its
territories. It advises on electricity policy,
grid technology and operations, and
workforce development in support of
safe, modern, and resilient utilities.
Kramer was a force that not only developed Loup Power
District but advocated for the enablement of public power
districts across the state of Nebraska and the financing
mechanisms that made their signature generation projects
possible.
Scattergood’s efforts to get hydroelectric plants built that
would serve the Los Angeles area made way for the public
power utility to acquire the city’s distribution system from
a variety of private companies that
had started in the area. He was
central to getting Congress to
approve the construction of the
Hoover Dam (then called the
Boulder Canyon Project) and
the transmission infrastructure
that would bring electricity to
Southern California, fueling its
growth.
The leaders who helped found
APPA saw movement in the
pride of public ownership and
wanted to support the industry
in providing stellar service.
In December 1941, Kramer told
Electrical World magazine
that the association was to
be a “service rather than
crusading organization — selfimprovement
by exchange
of information and ideas is
the underlying feature. But,
make no mistake about it, we
intend to defend against the
onslaughts on public power
on whatever front they may
appear.”
To the Lincoln Journal Star,
Kramer stated the early objectives of
the association were to “promote cooperation between
members, advance their common purposes, and aid in
problems of management and operation, engineering,
accounting and commercial practice, legal policy and
others.”
In those first years of APPA, public power entities were
faced with pressure from federal agencies to rapidly
increase generating capacity to support industries
supporting the war effort. Along with concerns over
meeting this load came questions about developing
transmission interconnections and how to finance
projects.
FALL 2025 | 11

CONTINUED COOPERATION
The investments of the past continue to allow public power
utilities today to serve their communities reliably and
affordably, including through an ongoing connection to
APPA.
“Having the basis be this gentleman who was our first
general manager here at the power district basically
lead that charge, really makes me proud to be part of
the organization of Loup Power District and to be a good
member of APPA,” said Neal Suess, who has been president
and CEO of Loup Power District since 2005.
When asked about the value he’s seen from having a
continued participation in the association, he pointed to
the relationships fostered over his decades in the industry.
“You get hooked up with consultants, others in the utility
business [with whom] you have a common goal and a
common thread with that you can really just talk about the
issues of the day,” said Suess. “Without the association,
you don’t make those connections, you don’t meet those
people.”
He has attended conferences and participated in various
working groups and knowledge sharing initiatives.
“The training that’s provided is great and the constant
information given to us that we need to run our
organization on a regular basis through the newsletters,
the magazine, and [the community groups now on APPA
Engage]. They really have helped me understand some of
the things that have been going on.”
David Hanson, Senior Assistant General Manager of Power
System at LADWP, noted that as part of an effort to bring
the utility “back to basics,” there is a renewed focus on its
history, with particular emphasis on the founders’ intent
to serve the community.
“We brought a very large black and white photo of Ezra
Scattergood into a board meeting and put it up on an
easel,” said Hanson. “I reminded the board that it’s poetic
that the generation facility that kept the lights on through
last September’s heat storm and through the Palisades Fire
is the Scattergood Generating Station.”
Hanson said much of the focus on improvements stemmed
from lessons following the Palisades Fire that affected a
large portion of its community at the beginning of 2025.
The aftermath of the fire was the first time he was aware
that LADWP received mutual aid, when crews from the
Navajo Tribal Utility Authority and Pacific Gas & Electric
came to help. Hanson said that operations crews from
LADWP have routinely participated in mutual aid, including
efforts to help Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria.
As one of the largest public power utilities, and one so
connected to APPA’s founding, Hanson hopes LADWP
will take greater part in collaborating with other public
power utilities, such as sharing more if its best practices
and challenges “so that everybody can learn together and
move forward.” He noted specific interest in hearing how
other utilities are addressing city procurement policies and
implementing new nuclear technologies.
“If we can point to other municipalities out there that
are embracing [small modular reactors], we need that
collaboration and we need that proof of concept, and we
only get that through collaborations and partnerships
through APPA,” said Hanson.
Darren Springer, general manager of Burlington Electric in
Vermont, also noted the value of knowledge exchange. In
addition to other venues, Burlington Electric has also been
an active participant in APPA’s research and development
program, Demonstration of Energy and Efficiency
Developments, or DEED.
“We’ve had opportunities for learning from various
municipals around the country through APPA. Sometimes
we’re able to share examples of things that we’re working
on that are relevant to other utilities. And that’s amazing,
APPA’s first national conference in May 1946.
12 | GENERATOR

because that means the impact of our work can go beyond
Burlington, and vice versa,” he said.
DEFENDING THE MODEL
Alonzo Weaver, senior vice president and chief operating
officer at Memphis Light, Gas and Water (MLGW) in
Tennessee, another of the charter members of APPA,
echoed the value in the collaborative nature of the
association.
“The network that APPA provides has given us resources
to address many common issues that municipally owned
utilities share,” he said, citing support around broadband
implementation and navigating supply chain disruptions.
Weaver also pointed to the preservation of tax-exempt
financing for capital work as having had a direct positive
impact in MLGW’s ability to provide energy at the lowest
cost to its customers.
“Without APPA’s advocacy, we would
be paying higher interest rates on
our bonds and our customers
would either have higher rates
or less projects, and neither
of those are good outcomes,”
added Springer.
The tax-exempt financing is
one of several issues where the
national network has convened.
“Anytime you have a national
organization representing
utilities from all different
states, different regulatory
environments, not everyone’s
going to be on the same page on
every issue,” said Springer.
“If we stick together, we can
get more accomplished and I
believe that’s the essence of these
associations,” said Hanson. “The American Public Power
Association is where we can find strength in numbers,
where we’re all suffering from the same things, from the
largest public power to the smallest public power. APPA
gives us that voice in Washington that allows us to push
things on a federal level that we can’t necessarily take part
in at our local municipal level.”
Terry Wimberley, President and CEO of the Paris Board
of Public Utilities in Tennessee, also expressed value
for the “camaraderie, the programs, and the training”
participation in associations brings, including at the
annual Legislative Rally, which he has attended for the last
10 years.
“I very much enjoy getting to be a voice for public power
and am thankful that APPA has the folks in Washington
operating at that level, paying attention to all the things
that matter in the public power world and helping to
protect the public power model. APPA is a valuable resource
to a public power entity, even for a small, rural utility like
we have here in Paris, Tennessee,” said Wimberley.
Suess said he’s gotten to know some congressional leaders
on a first-name basis.
APPA’s niche in everything
going forward is being our
spokesperson at the national
level to talk to the folks who
are in power and really
get our message across.
NEAL SUESS
President/CEO
Loup Power District
“They will call me if they have a concern about something
in our industry and then I can contact them back — and
that really started with a lot of the things that APPA puts
together,” said Suess. “Our world right now is as crazy as
it’s ever been, with the ever-changing administrations
and us trying to keep up with all the changes that are going
on every single minute of every single day, it’s too much
for us to do at our individual utility levels. APPA’s niche
in everything going forward is being our spokesperson at
the national level to talk to the folks who are in power and
really get our message across.”
FUTURE ROLES
Public power leaders pointed to several areas where they
expect APPA to continue its mission in supporting its
members.
Looking ahead, Weaver at MLGW hopes to see
coordinated efforts around the
impacts of tariffs and how public
power systems are addressing
rapidly increasing electric
demand as well as shifts in
generating technologies. He
sees the association’s role as
providing a forum for these
discussions and offering
resources that assist in
addressing related challenges.
“We’ve all got a responsibility
to train the folks behind us
and create a deep bench,” said
Hanson, comparing his utility
experience to his experience in
the military, where there was
rigorous training. “Everybody’s
just been expected to wing it, and
we can’t operate like that anymore.”
Hanson expects this to extend to educating students and
the general public as well. “We’ve got to be able to talk
about the issues that are facing the power system in an
easy-to-understand way,” he said.
“Electric utilities are going to play a more critical role in
our energy system in the future, which is saying something
because they’re pretty critical as it is,” said Springer. “Our
philosophy is that more customers over time are going to
be relying on the electric grid, not just for turning the lights
on, but for their transportation needs, for their heating and
cooling needs, in [other ways] that they haven’t necessarily
in the past. And that means that our work collectively
as electric utilities is going to be critically important for
the nation’s economy, for our local economies, for our
environment, and for our customers.”
Much like the leader many decades before him, Suess
sees a continued opportunity for public power to grow
across the country, and for APPA to help communities get
municipalization initiatives across the line.
“I really see public power growing in the future… There’s
no way we can go but up from here,” he said.
FALL 2025 | 13

employee notes
KOREY HOBZA
Vice President of Engineering
Korey Hobza joined Loup as Vice President
of Engineering
in 2020.
Hobza provides
leadership for the
planning, design,
maintenance and
construction of the
electric, transmission,
distributing,
and generation
systems at Loup
5 YEARS
Power. He also has
supervisory responsibility
for Engineering and Meter/Maintenance
personnel as well as building
and structures maintenance.
He is slated to become Loup President/
CEO at the beginning of 2026.
Korey is a graduate of Leigh Public
Schools and earned a Bachelor of
Science Degree in Industrial Engineering
from the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln.
He and his wife, Peggy, have two
children: Hayden and Karleigh.
CRAIG BAXA
Plant Operator
Plant Operator Craig Baxa is on a team
of six Columbus
Powerhouse operators
who watch over
Loup’s hydroelectric
system. They monitor
and control the
generation units at
the powerhouses
in Columbus and
Monroe.
The operators
15 YEARS
also work closely
with the Genoa
Headworks Division to divert maximum
water from the Loup River into the
District’s canal system for power plant
generation.
Baxa joined Loup in 2010 as a Maintenance
Man at the Genoa Headworks.
In 2012, he was promoted to his current
position.
14 | GENERATOR
Baxa is a graduate of Twin River High
School. He attended Wayne State College
where he earned a Bachelor of
Science degree in Criminal Justice. He
and his wife, Chelsi, live in Monroe and
have two sons, Chance and Cade.
WALT WILLIAMS
VP of Accounting and Finance/CFO
Walt Williams has served as Vice President
of Accounting
and Finance/CFO
since 2015.
In this role, he manages
the accounting
and financial matters
of the District. He
also oversees customer
service and
billing operations,
insurance, purchasing,
and stores.
Williams joined Loup in 2000 as Chief
Accountant. In 2011, he transferred to
Supervisor of Purchasing and Insurance
before being promoted to his
current position.
Williams is a graduate of Lincoln High
School. He earned a Bachelor of Science
in management and accounting
from Peru State College. He earned his
Certified Public Accountant license in
1990.
Williams and his wife, Pam, have two
children, Brittany and Jordan, and
seven grandchildren.
JASON BEIERMANN
Accounting Supervisor
25 YEARS
Jason Beiermann joined Loup in 2015
as Accountant/Collector
in the Administrative
Services
Department. In
2024, he was promoted
to his current
position of Accounting
Supervisor.
Beiermann is
responsible for
various technical
and administrative
accounting
tasks, including oversight of property
10 YEARS
insurance, purchasing materials and
equipment, approval of purchase
orders and the material bidding process,
and general liability concerns.
Beiermann is a graduate of Columbus
High school. He earned an Associate of
Applied Science degree in information
technology from Central Community
College-Columbus. He also has a
Bachelor of Science in accounting from
Bellevue University.
He and his wife, Tina, are the parents
of three daughters: Emily, Alyssa, and
Aubrey.
JEREMY REIS
Machinist/Welder
Jeremy Reis joined Loup Power District
as Machinist/Welder
in 2020.
His duties include
fabricating parts and
equipment, repairing
equipment and
vehicles, welding,
and maintenance
work.
Reis is a graduate
of Albion High
School and studied
machine tool and welding at Central
Community College-Columbus.
He and his wife, Bridget, live in
Genoa. He has two children and four
stepchildren.
KENTON ZIMMER
Heavy Equipment Operator
5 YEARS
Kenton Zimmer of Genoa is a Heavy
Equipment Operator
based out of the
Columbus Service
Center.
He 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, helps build
10 YEARS

substations, and maintains District parks
and lakes.
Zimmer joined Loup Power District
as a Maintenance Man at the Genoa
Headworks in 2015. In 2017, he was
promoted to Dredge/Maintenance Canal
Technician and transferred to his current
position in 2022.
Zimmer is a native of Duncan and a
graduate of Columbus High School. He
attended Central Community College-
Columbus. He and his wife, Betsy, are
the parents of four children: Mason,
Faith, Arianna, and Bentley.
NEAL SUESS
President/CEO
Neal Suess joined Loup in 2005 as
President/CEO. He
oversees all operations
of Loup Power
District and reports
to the Board of
Directors.
During his 20 years
at the helm, Suess
has been involved
in several milestone
events at Loup
20 YEARS
Power District. They
include the generating
unit renovation at the Columbus and
Monroe Powerhouses in 2007, electrical
expansion construction at ADM Corn
Processors east of Columbus, the
commissioning of a new Dredge in 2012,
and a new federal hydroelectric license
in 2017. He has also helped coordinate
repairs of the District’s Genoa Headworks
caused by a storm in March 2019.
He was also instrumental in bringing
both Clarkson (2007) and Leigh (2018)
on as retail towns.
Suess holds a Bachelor of Science
Degree in Mechanical Engineering from
Iowa State University. He is a Registered
Professional Engineer in Nebraska and
a member of the American Society of
Mechanical Engineers.
Suess and his wife, Jo, have two children,
Elizabeth (Collin Gilbert) and Taylor
(Dani Pedersen); and three grandchildren,
Leo, Bode, and Caden.
DEVON BORCHERS
Line Technician
Devon Borchers joined Loup as a Line
Technician based
out of the Columbus
Service Center in
2024.
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.
Borchers is a graduate of Scotus Central
Catholic High School and earned an
associate degree in utility line from
Northeast Community College.
RON CIELOHA
Powerhouse Maintenance Supervisor
Powerhouse Maintenance Supervisor
Ron Cieloha was
recently recognized
for 40 years of service
to Loup Power
District.
In his current role,
Cieloha oversees
the electrical and
mechanical maintenance
of the Columbus
and Monroe
Powerhouses.
1 YEAR
40 YEARS
He joined Loup in 1985 as Second Assistant
Plant Operator at the Columbus
Powerhouse. He became First Assistant
Plant Operator in 1986.
He was promoted to Electrical-Electronic
Technician in 1988 and was promoted to
his current position in 1991.
Cieloha is a graduate of Silver Creek
High School. He earned an Associate of
Applied Science Degree in Electronics
from Central Community College-
Columbus. Cieloha has one son, Adam,
and two grandchildren, Nicholas and
Avery.
Loup pays $1.3
million to area
communities
Loup Power District recently
delivered lease payments
totaling more than $1.3 million
to area communities. Each of
these communities owns their
electric distribution systems.
These payments compensate
them for the use of those
systems for the second quarter
of 2025. 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.
The payments were:
Columbus — $1,033,015.20
Platte Center — $9,094.64
Monroe — $10,054.81
Tarnov — $1,290.31
Creston — $5,413.93
Humphrey — $24,847.37
Lindsay — $40,697.74
Cornlea — $1,725.83
Newman Grove — $15,080.03
Duncan — $14,150.48
Fullerton — $27,284.31
Genoa — $19,654.27
Belgrade — $2,997.33
Richland — $2,276.26
Howells — $16,711.87
Leigh — $14,034.82
Clarkson — $15,981.03
Albion — $41,767.89
Cedar Rapids — $10,863.04
Primrose — $1,128.00
Petersburg — $8,708.46
St. Edward — $15,234.15
Total — $1,332,011.77
FALL 2025 | 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
$3.63/day
Average cost to power a
Nebraska home and everything in it.
Loup’s rates are
6% BELOW the STATE avg
35.8% BELOW the NATL 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.