The Nebraska Municipal Power Pool, the oldest of the four organizations of NMPP Energy, is undergoing a modernization initiative that aims to transition the organization to remain financially viable by reducing costs and streamlining its governance while remaining an independent entity with a shared staff across the NMPP Energy coalition of organizations.
The NMPP Board of Directors discussed the strategic initiative and future steps in the process at its board meeting Sept. 7 at NMPP Energy.
The initiative is being driven primarily by the loss of annual revenue from the sale of PowerManager software earlier this year due to pending retirements of key Salt Creek Software staff. NMPP and Salt Creek Software jointly provided PowerManager Software to users for more than two decades. Software sales were NMPP’s primary annual revenue source.
Another driver is the recent passage of legislation in Nebraska that broadens services that can be performed by the Municipal Energy Agency of Nebraska (MEAN) under the Municipal Cooperative Financing Act. Most of the current NMPP services can now be provided by MEAN to any municipality, including non-MEAN participants.
Transition of NMPP services
As part of the initiative, a significant re-evaluation of NMPP services was recently performed by staff. Following this re-evaluation, several of NMPP’s services will likely transfer to MEAN, pending approval of the Boards of Directors of NMPP and MEAN. The services likely to transfer to MEAN are primarily already being used by MEAN wholesale power participants. These services would still be available for non-MEAN participants.
Going forward, NMPP’s primary purpose would still include staffing the NMPP Energy entities, engaging in legislative and regulatory advocacy and providing coordination of activities that benefit municipalities. NMPP would remain ready to provide future services if the NMPP Energy entities desire to proceed with a service offering that cannot be provided by the other three NMPP Energy entities.
Streamlining NMPP’s governance
The initiative also includes streamlining NMPP’s governance and operations to reduce administrative time, complexity and cost for the organization and members.
Communication regarding the initiative will be sent in October to NMPP Members Council representatives. The changes to NMPP under consideration will result in a change to NMPP’s Articles of Incorporation, which requires a vote of the Members Council.
The NMPP Board of Directors will consider the following actions at its Board meeting Nov. 2 at NMPP Energy:
- Terminating membership in the organization, making NMPP a memberless organization with no collection of annual member dues;
- Eliminating the Members Council and change the composition of the Board from 16 members to nine members comprised of officers from MEAN, NPGA and ACE; and
- Using the Energy Research and Development Fund (ERDF) to make automatic grants to all NMPP member communities for the 2023-24 fiscal year.
If approved by the NMPP Board of Directors, voting ballots will be distributed to Members Council representatives in late November.
It’s important to note: The NMPP Energy coalition of organizations will still have members within MEAN, NPGA and ACE. Other municipalities desiring services previously provided by NMPP may obtain them in the future by contracting with MEAN without having to pay annual organizational membership dues previously required by NMPP.
For any questions regarding the NMPP modernization initiative, please contact NMPP Energy General Counsel Michelle Lepin, mlepin@nmppenergy.org or NMPP Executive Director Bob Poehling, bpoehling@nmppenergy.org.