AP PHOTOS: There's a new 'World's Ugliest Dog' - Omaha World

full description – content: Coal-fired power plants in Nebraska and Iowa are adapting to tightened clean-air rules.

full description – content: Some are shutting down. Others are installing pollution controls or refueling with natural gas. Still others are holding off on major decisions until a new rule limiting carbon dioxide emissions is made final.

full description – content: The Omaha Public Power District, for its part, isn’t waiting.

full description – content: Thursday, the OPPD board approved a 20-year generation plan that will retire three coal-burning units at the North Omaha Station in 2016, offsetting the loss of power generation with new and expanded efficiency programs.

full description – content: Emissions controls will be installed on the remaining two units, and in 2023 they will be refueled with natural gas.

full description – content: That will be key to complying with new limits on carbon dioxide, haze, mercury and other pollutants.

full description – content: “This, to me, is a historic moment,” board member Del Weber said. “It’s a transformational time.”

full description – content: Board member John Green said “it’s more than time” to stop burning coal in north Omaha — in fact, he would prefer that the two remaining units be converted to natural gas sooner than 2023.

full description – content: The plan calls for reducing demand for electricity by 300 megawatts over 20 years with new and expanded energy- efficiency measures — for example, a program that gives the utility control of air- conditioning units during peak usage times.

full description – content: OPPD spent months gathering feedback from stakeholders, narrowing the generation options to five. District managers ultimately recommended a hybrid option that incorporated more savings by managing demand.

full description – content: Among other things, OPPD is looking at rebates for customers who buy energy- efficient appliances, said Tim Burke, vice president of customer service and public affairs.

full description – content: Also in 2016, when new federal limits on mercury emissions kick in, OPPD will retrofit one of two coal-fired units at its Nebraska City Station with emissions controls.

full description – content: The 638-megawatt North Omaha Station came online in 1954. The district’s shift away from coal is a win for environmental and community groups that have ratcheted up pressure on the utility to stop burning fossil fuels.

full description – content: The Rev. Eric Elnes, senior minister at Countryside Community Church, praised the OPPD leadership.

full description – content: “You’ve listened to the community, and you’ve acted on it,” Elnes said.

full description – content: The vote on the plan was unanimous.

full description – content: Board member Tim Gay was absent from Thursday’s meeting; he attended the dedication of the Steele Flats wind farm in southeast Nebraska. Afterward, he said he’s happy with how the utility is positioning itself. As for the 50-year-old coal-fired technology, he said, “We won’t miss it.”

full description – content: The 20-year increased cost of pursuing this option, compared with the “business- as-usual” scenario, which assumes no change, is estimated at $53 million, according to consultant Black Veatch.

full description – content: OPPD estimates a rate increase of up to about 2 percent to pay for the work. A more detailed rate study is needed to determine the actual impact.

full description – content: Retiring the three units at the North Omaha Station will affect about 50 employees, said Jon Hansen, OPPD’s vice president of energy production and marketing. He said the district will try to avoid layoffs, relying instead on attrition, retraining and reassignment.

full description – content: ith 600 megawatts of new wind power, one-third of OPPD’s energy production will come from renewable sources by 2018 and remain at that level through 2033.

full description – content: Elsewhere in Nebraska and Iowa, utilities are exploring a number of strategies to comply with the new regulations.

full description – content: The Nebraska Public Power District is upgrading emissions controls at the Gerald Gentleman and Sheldon coal-fired plants to meet existing rules. But the district will wait to chart a more specific course until the new carbon dioxide limits are complete, spokesman Mark Becker said.

full description – content: At the City of Fremont’s 160-megawatt Lon D. Wright Power Plant, built in the late 1950s, workers already have begun retrofitting coal-fired units with emissions controls, said Troy Schaben, assistant general manager of utilities. The upgrades will cost around $48 million.

full description – content: Despite the cost, Schaben said, coal will play a big role in Fremont for years to come.

full description – content: “The cheapest option for us, even with all the guidelines in place, is still coal,” he said.

full description – content: In Grand Island, the 100-megawatt Platte Generating Station also is getting new emissions controls. Other strategies such as converting to natural gas simply weren’t feasible, and customers’ No. 1 concern is cost, said Lynn Mayhew, assistant utilities director.

full description – content: “They rely on us to provide them with the most economical power we can produce,” he said. “Coal is (still) the cheapest source.”

full description – content: Officials of MidAmerican Energy, which operates the Walter Scott Jr. Energy Center in Council Bluffs, the largest coal plant in Nebraska and Iowa, could not be reached for comment.

full description – content: In Ames, Iowa, the municipal utility is converting two coal-fired units to natural gas.

full description – content: For officials there, it was a tossup between coal and natural gas, said Donald Kom, the city’s director of electric services.

full description – content: But the specter of future regulation pushed the city to choose the $25 million conversion plan, plus the cost to build a supply pipeline.

full description – content: In November, the Central Iowa Power Cooperative shut down the 50-year-old Fair Station coal-fired plant in Muscatine County.

full description – content: “The reality is, the plant is no longer efficient to operate given today’s energy markets and federal environmental regulations,” Dennis Murdock, the utility’s executive vice president and CEO, said in a statement on the utility’s website.

full description – content: World-Herald staff writer Jourdyn Kaarre contributed to this report.

full description – content: Contact the writer: cody.winchester@owh.com

full description – content: 402-444-1216, twitter.com/cody_winchester

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