As cold weather begins to set in, many people retreat to their garage to escape the chill. As do vehicles, so drivers hope to avoid scraping off ice and snow in the morning. If there’s any space remaining, ongoing projects are moved in with hopes of finishing them soon or carrying them over until spring. Closing up the doors and windows, many start using supplemental heat to make their garage, shop or shed even more hospitable. Propane tanks are filled. Pilot lights are ignited. Space heaters are plugged in. Then, without much thought, thermostats are turned up to drive away the chill. Unless folks remember how to manage this extra use of energy, they may be shocked when their first winter utility bills arrive or the fuel tank out back is empty before expected. Usually the garage, shop or shed is the least energy efficient space at a residence. A typical two-car garage measures 480 square feet, or about 20 percent of the size of the average U.S. home. It is often the least insulated and uses the least efficient heating systems. Yet, some are taken back in the middle of winter when keeping these areas at 50°F or higher increases their heating costs by 50% or more. Before taking up refuge in your garage this winter and cranking up the heat, consider a few of the following opportunities to keep your energy use from literally going through the roof. Insulate the walls While most people insulate their garage attics before heating them, many older homes (and even some newer ones) were not built with insulation in the walls of the garage. While most have outside siding, sheathing and a layer of particle board to keep elements out, these materials do little to retain heat. Insulating can be as easy as tacking fiberglass insulation between exposed joists. If your garage walls are finished, insulation can be blown in through a small hole in the drywall or paneling. Caulk between the walls and the concrete floor Most garages were not built using compressible foam between the lower framing and concrete floor. Over time, the framing can swell, shrink and move, leaving gaps which will allow air from the outside to leak in. You can either use a foam sealant or a latex/silicone-based caulk to seal this often-overlooked area.  Seal the door between the house and garage If your garage is attached to the house, the door leading into the home is often a major source of cold air leaking into the conditioned area. If your garage is detached, the passenger door may be letting much of your garage heat escape. Check to ensure weather-stripping is installed around the entire door frame, and that it’s intact, pliable and provides a snug seal. Also, ensure your threshold and door sweep are sealing at the bottom. Insulate the garage door Even if your garage has properly-insulated walls, you may have uninsulated garage door(s). This negates much of the benefit from insulated walls. A new, insulated door will cost several hundreds of dollars or more, but will provide a clean appearance. A lower cost solution is to purchase foam board insulation and install it on the inside panels of your existing doors. Remember, you must cut the foam board to a size a little smaller than your garage door’s panels so the insulation doesn’t smash together as the door rolls up and down. Switch to LED lighting Compared to traditional, incandescent lights, LEDs use only 10 percent of the electricity to produce identical illumination levels. Compared to fluorescent lighting, LEDs use 40 to 60 percent less energy for the same amount of light. More importantly, fluorescent lights produce less and less light as the temperature drops. Many fluorescent lights will not even operate below 10°F. In contrast, LEDs slightly increase their light output the colder it becomes. Replace older appliances If you have an older model refrigerator or freezer in your garage, it may cost more money for you to operate it over time than it would to invest into a new unit. Although the energy savings are smaller in the winter, consider how hot your garage becomes in the summer. If there is very little in the garage refrigerator or freezer, try moving items to an indoor refrigerator or freezer. Then, unplug the garage unit to save electricity. For additional ideas on how you can reduce the cost of heating your garage this winter, contact your local electric utility or visit www.energywisenebraska.com. You may even find you are eligible for EnergyWiseSM incentives for helping with the cost of other energy-saving home improvements.

By: NPPD Energy Efficiency Program Manager Cory Fuehrer Have you ever reminisced about how hot a summer or how cold a particular winter was? It seems to be human nature to compare current outdoor temperatures to weather we experienced in the past. One of the late Johnny Carson’s favorite ways to set up a weather joke was to start by saying, “It was so hot today…” Having seen the routine many times, his audience would boisterously reply in unison, “How hot was it?!” Obviously, his reply was the punchline to which everybody laughed. But what if there was a way to quantify how hot or cold it truly was in order to compare it to other days, months or years in the past? Actually, there is and it’s called a “degree day”. Degree days are a measurement of how cold or warm a particular location was. A degree day compares the daily mean temperature (average of the day’s high and low outdoor temperature) to a standard temperature. In the U.S., that’s usually 65° Fahrenheit (F). The more extreme the outside temperature, the higher the number of degree days. A higher amount of degree days generally results in higher energy use for space heating or cooling. More specifically, heating degree days (HDDs) are a measure of how cold the temperature was on a given day or during a period of days. For example, a winter day with a mean temperature of 30°F has 35 HDDs. Two such cold days in a row have 70 HDDs for the two-day period. If the daily mean temperature is greater than 65°F, no HDDs are associated with that particular day. On the other hand, cooling degree days (CDDs) are a measure of how hot the temperature was on a given day. If a summer day had a mean temperature of 80°F, 15 CDDs would be recorded. If the next day had a mean temperature of 85°F, 20 CDDs would be assigned to it. The total CDDs for the two days is 35 CDDs. By totaling HDDs and CDDs for entire months or years, comparisons to previous months or years can be made. Say you’d like to evaluate an average of how much energy it might take to heat and cool your home. Degree days, along with your heating and cooling system’s efficiencies and other factors can be included in this equation to provide a fairly accurate estimate. Degree days also provide possible insight as to why energy bills were higher or lower than anticipated. The Nebraska Department of Water, Energy, and Environment (NDWEE) provides historical degree day and degree day normals on a monthly basis for 12 cities around the state in addition to the state's overall average degree days. Degree day normals are 30–year averages over a baseline comparison period. Currently, NDWEE uses 1991–2020 for the baseline. Nebraska's overall HDD normal for a year is 6281. The CDD normal for a year is 996. (Note that commas are not used degree day data.) In comparison, Hawaii's HDD normal is 1 and its CDD normal is 4766. Hawaiians use almost no energy for heating but need to use huge amounts if they wish to keep indoor spaces below 80°F. In contrast, Colorado's HDD and CDD normals are 7053 and 329 respectively. While our neighbors to the west use a little more energy than us for heating, they require only about one-third of the energy to keep cool. In the 2024/2025 season, Nebraska's HDD totaled 5956, which was 325 HDD less than normal. This indicates last winter in Nebraska was about 5% warmer than normal. For the upcoming winter, the “Old Farmer's Almanac” forecasts above-normal temperatures in the Cornhusker state. By the end of next June, we should know if the prediction was right. In the meantime, when a friend claims the winter of 2018/2019 was the coldest they remember, you can prove the winter of 1978/1979 was actually the coldest in more than 50 years.  Regardless of what the upcoming winter is like, your local public power provider, in partnership with Nebraska Public Power District, may have an EnergyWiseSM incentive available when you upgrade your heating, ventilation and air conditioning system’s efficiency. Contact your local utility or visit www.energywisenebraska.com for more details.

By: NPPD Energy Efficiency Program Manager Cory Fuehrer Any long-time grain producer in Nebraska will tell you the key to a successful season depends on their crops getting the correct amount of moisture, in the correct manner and at the correct time without any other major devastations. During some wet years, yields from dryland acres will rival those from irrigated ground. However, during most years, irrigation provides a significant advantage. It comes down to water. Farming both dryland and irrigated acres, my grandfather appreciated a wet summer since both types of fields produced well. While unloading grain trucks at harvesttime many years ago, he would say with a grin on his face, “You can’t count it until it’s in the bin!” Today, successful grain marketers would likely say, “Hold on. We don’t count it until it’s sold!” Their concern? It comes down to water. For those unfamiliar with the process, nearly all grain is stored for some period of time before it is sold or fed to livestock. When it is sold, a variety of factors determine the price, the largest being test weight and moisture content. Whether it’s corn, soybeans, wheat or sorghum, each type of grain has an ideal level of moisture content to optimize the test weight at the time of sale. To achieve that level, many choose on-farm storage in grain bins and silos. The length of time grain can be stored and maintain quality is also highly dependent on moisture content. In general, the lower the moisture content, the longer it can be stored. While drying grain with heat is often done immediately following harvest, when the grain is moved to storage, it requires aeration. The storage facilities have large fans that force air through the grain to remove excess heat and moisture. Here’s where optimizing quantity and quality can become challenging. If the moisture level isn’t low enough at the time of sale, the price received is penalized. Worse yet, the grain could spoil or become infested with insects in storage and become worthless before the producer can even get it to market. However, overaerating reduces the weight by which grain is measured for selling, which reduces the overall amount of money the producer receives. In the past, some producers took the traditional, time-intensive steps to monitor conditions inside the bin, as well as outdoor weather conditions, and only ran fans when needed and appropriate. But, the majority of producers erred on the side of caution and operated the fans excessively, thinking a reduced total payment was better than possibly no payment at all. Today, the process of monitoring and aerating only when appropriate has been automated by several companies that offer the necessary hardware and computer applications. Temperature and moisture sensors and/or off-gassing analyzers identify the grain’s condition inside the storage. Onsite or local weather stations identify temperature and relative humidity outside the facility. This information is fed into software that continuously determines if and when aeration is appropriate. When it is, a signal is sent to an aeration controller that activates the fans. Once conditions inside the bin or outside weather change, the controller automatically turns the fans off. While automated aeration control systems can be expensive, optimized grain quality and reduced losses help recover the investment quickly. To further defray the cost, your local public power provider may have an EnergyWiseSM incentive available once installation is complete. Contact your local utility or visit www.energywisenebraska.com. for additional details. Your local utility, in partnership with Nebraska Public Power District, wants to help you get the most value from the energy needed to raise and store your crops

By: Energy Efficiency Program Manager Cory Fuehrer These days, instead of hearing a local dairy farmer hollering “Bessie,” you’re more likely to hear one of Nebraska’s public power utilities refer to “BESS” when discussing reliability. Rather than a seasoned Holstein cow, however, they are talking about a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS). This is one of the recent technologies Nebraska’s public power utilities consider for efficiently meeting the ever-growing electricity demand in our state. The Nebraska Power Association forecasts that our state’s average annual peak demand for electricity will continue to compound by 1.5% each year through 2042. This will be driven by both, new businesses drawn to our affordable, reliable power, and existing businesses expanding due to Nebraska’s favorable economic conditions. New loads will include ag and food processing, ethanol and ammonia production, data centers, irrigation conversions and other manufacturing to name a few. A number of electric utilities are adding new energy resources and some are considering the efficiencies a BESS could provide. In simple terms, a BESS is a BIG rechargeable battery. Though they may use different technologies such as sodium-sulfur and nickel-cadmium, the most common is lithium-ion. Storage systems are typically housed in engineered shipping containers, outdoor-rated cabinets, or purpose-built buildings placed on top of ground mounting structures using large cranes. They can be placed directly inside city centers or manufacturing areas, which reduces transmission costs and line losses without adding to urban air pollution. Without energy storage, electricity must be produced at the exact same time it is used. When demand for electricity spikes, most traditional generation resources require considerable time to bring online. The U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates only 25% of U.S. power plants can go from being fully shut down to fully operational in less than one hour. However, BESSs can supply their stored electricity in a matter of seconds. Having excess energy readily available can reduce or eliminate brownouts and blackouts during times of peak demand or extreme weather events. BESSs are also ideally paired with renewable generation resources like wind and solar. These resources are often not able to operate when power is needed most. Other times, they are available for output, but the immediate demand for electricity doesn’t exist. BESSs capture generation when it’s available, storing it and discharging it into the grid when and where it’s needed. Finally, BESSs help utilities manage the impact of price fluctuations for electricity in the wholesale market. During critical peak periods, the cost for electricity can increase more than one hundred-fold. BESSs allow utilities to provide energy during those brief periods and avoid purchasing energy at those extreme levels. Your local utility, in partnership with Nebraska Public Power District, wants to keep their costs low so that your own costs are as affordable as possible. By efficiently using their generation resources, utilities ensure you are able to purchase low-cost, sustainable electricity for years to come. If you would like ideas on how you can maximize use of that electricity, contact your local utility or visit www.energywisenebraska.com. EnergyWiseSM incentives are available to reduce the cost of many efficiency improvements.

By: Energy Efficiency Program Manager Cory Fuehrer As summer heats up, it’s great to know your home’s air conditioning system can provide relief. It’s also good to know you can find a cold beverage in your refrigerator to cool down with. That wouldn’t be possible without the refrigeration process pioneered in 1834 by Jacob Perkins, who introduced the first commercially successful vapor-compression refrigeration system using ether. For air conditioning systems, a refrigerant evaporates inside a coil and changes from a liquid to a gas. As it does, the refrigerant absorbs heat from inside your home and the system transfers it out. The amount of heat removed and how efficiently it is done depends in large part on the type of refrigerant used. For nearly 200 years, the refrigeration industry sought to develop the perfect refrigerant that would be efficient, non-corrosive, non-toxic, and non-flammable, with no ozone depletion and global warming potential. However, the first air conditioners and refrigerators employed toxic or flammable gases, such as ammonia, sulfur dioxide, methyl chloride or propane that often resulted in fatal accidents when they leaked. Then, in 1928, Thomas Midgley Jr. created the first non-flammable, non-toxic chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) gas: Freon® (R-12). However, by the mid-1970s, scientists discovered CFCs such as R-12, were causing major damage to the ozone layer that protects the earth from ultraviolet radiation. In the 1980s, this lead to the adoption of hydrochlorofluorocarbon (HCFC) refrigerants like R-22. Compared to CFCs, HCFCs have a significantly lower potential to deplete ozone. But in the 2000s, climatologists began to correlate the use of HCFCs to climate change. To address this concern, the American Innovation and Manufacturing Act of 2020 required transitioning to new refrigerants like R-32 and R-454B. The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers classifies these refrigerants as “A2Ls”. Starting this year, newly manufactured refrigeration and air conditioning systems must employ A2Ls. When compared to older refrigerants, they provide environmental benefits, improved efficiency, faster thermal recovery and regulatory compliance. They also help homeowners avoid the increasing costs of retiring refrigerants. Even still, don’t feel you need to rush out to replace all of heat pumps, air conditioners, refrigerators and freezers. Existing equipment and the parts, including refrigerant, used for servicing and repairing them are not subject to the new regulations and can continue to be used through equipment end-of-life. The supply of R-410a and R-134a will still be available, as was the case in prior refrigerant transitions in the 1990s and early 2000s. However, when you do find yourself in the market for a new refrigeration appliance, heat pump or air conditioning system, contact your local utility or visit www.energywisenebraska.com. They may have EnergyWiseSM incentives available to reduce the cost. Your local utility, in partnership with Nebraska Public Power District, wants to help you get the most value from the energy they provide.

By: Energy Efficiency Program Manager Cory Fuehrer Have you stopped at or driven by a convenience store in the middle of the day and noticed the canopy lights over the gas pumps are on? Or have you noticed a streetlight in your area that never shuts off? What about a glaring yard light that irradiates over much more than the owner’s yard? Finally, when is the last time you entered a room and found the lights were left on after the last person left? These are all examples of improper or needless use of electricity through illumination.  Through the 2020 Residential Energy Consumption Survey, the U.S. Energy Information Administration found that electricity consumption for lighting accounted for about 6% of the electrical use in U.S. homes. That equates to 81 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity. In similar surveys for commercial buildings and industrial facilities, lighting accounted for about 17% (208 billion kWh) and 6% (53 billion kWh) of total electricity use in those areas respectively. Unfortunately, it is estimated that about half of all energy used for lighting is unnecessarily lost. Here are the leading causes of wasted lighting energy: Over-illumination – using too much light or leaving lights on unnecessarily. Inefficient fixtures – light is lost within the fixture before it can provide illumination of the desired area. Inefficient light source – bulbs like incandescent bulbs waste energy by creating much more heat than light. Poor fixture design – Some are not properly shielded and/or aimed sending light where it is not needed or desired. Poor design usually leads to glare. The picture to the right illustrates this problem. The fixture on the left either lost its shielding or never had any causing light to go directly into the observer’s eyes. The fixture on the right is properly shielded. Most of the light produced strikes the area being illuminated before reflecting into our eyes. Uncontrolled lighting – lack of lighting controls, occupancy sensors, or dimming systems allow lights to run unnecessarily. Not utilizing natural light – not taking advantage of natural daylight when and where it is available can lead to increased reliance on artificial lighting. Now that you know the primary causes, here are the solutions: Energy-efficient lighting – Switching to energy-efficient LED lighting and using smart lighting controls. Proper fixture design – Ensuring light fixtures are shielded and aimed correctly by directing light only where it's needed, reducing waste and glare. Natural light utilization – Maximizing natural daylight through window placement during building design to reduce the dependence on artificial lighting. Lighting controls – Installing and integrating occupancy and daylight sensors, smart switches, smart building systems and task lighting to optimize energy use. Your local electric utility, in partnership with Nebraska Public Power District, wants to help you gain the most beneficial light from the energy you purchase. They even offer EnergyWiseSM lighting incentives to help you make the most efficient choice. To find additional information, contact your local utility or visit www.energywisenebraska.com.

By: NPPD Energy Efficiency Program Manager Cory Fuehrer You know it’s springtime when you hear certain sounds in the fresh morning air: the gentle rumble of an approaching thunderstorm, the soft buzzing of bees pollinating flowers, the singing of songbirds announcing their return . . . and that overzealous neighbor who always starts mowing before 7 a.m. on Sundays! You know what that neighbor needs? A robotic mower. Most operate within the range of 55 to 60 decibels (dB). That’s the average level of a conversation between two people speaking in a soft to normal voice. Your neighbor’s gas-powered mower, like others, probably ranges between 90 to 100 dB. That’s the same level of noise produced by hairdryers, blenders and motorcycles. You could also tell your neighbor about the other great advantages robotic mowers have, including: Time savings Whether you’re on vacation or doing projects around the house, robotic mowers operate autonomously, allowing you to set a schedule and forget about mowing. When the mower’s battery is nearly depleted, the mower heads to its station for recharging, which usually takes one to three hours. Then it heads back to keep mowing where it left off. Less maintenance The blades on a robotic mower should be replaced every two to three months. Other than that, occasionally clean the undercarriage, then check and lubricate moving parts, and you should be set. Compare that to the hassle of removing and sharpening blades and changing oil when relying on a gas-powered mower. Healthier lawn Because robotic mowers are designed to mow more frequently, clippings are smaller and decompose more quickly. Compared to mowing once or twice a week with a gas-powered mower, the robotic mower’s reduced length of cut creates less stress to grass and helps to promote a healthier, denser lawn. Efficiency and energy cost savings Consider the seasonal energy use and cost for mowing the average Nebraska lawn, which is reported to be 13,921 square feet according to Today's Homeowner, the #1 syndicated home improvement TV show in the U.S. Over the course of a seven-month mowing season, a randomly selected robotic mower clips the lawn every other day and consumes almost 62 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity. At last mowing season’s average cost of 11.56¢ per kWh in Nebraska, the total is about $7.14. In comparison, this size of lawn could be trimmed with a 21-inch, gas-powered mulching push mower every third day. By the end of the same seven-month mowing season, the push mower will have used 35½ gallons of gasoline and required 71 hours of someone’s time to push it. If gas were $3 per gallon, that comes to $106.50. You can determine what 71 hours of free time is worth. Safety Cutting on slopes with push or riding mowers always presents a safety concern. Robotic mowers can typically mow slopes of 20-35 degrees, with some tackling even steeper grades. More advanced models have sensors that can detect obstacles and maneuver around them or even automatically stop the blades when the mower is lifted. With a little luck, your neighbor’s early morning lawncare routine will never disrupt your morning tranquility again. Who knows? By now, maybe you’re interested in a robotic mower. To find additional information about incentives for purchasing a robotic mower or other energy-saving opportunities, contact Southwest Public Power District or visit www.energywisenebraska.com

By: Energy Efficiency Program Manager Cory Fuehrer

By: Energy Efficiency Program Manager Cory Fuehrer