Going to great heights to deliver electricity

NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (KNOP) - Building in the Sandhills can be tricky business. Over the years environmentalists and landowners have struggled with progress which they say can potentially affect the delicate ground that makes up the large area in the northern section of Nebraska.

But people living in the Sandhills also want and need things like electricity, and so the two necessities - the environment and power - must find balance. Custer Public Power is working on that balance, making strides toward modernizing Custer Public Power’s electrical grid system. And at the same time, they are continuing their Avian Protection and Management Policy, keeping the wildlife as safe as possible, too.

Custer Public Power General Manager Rick Nelson explains a video shared with News 2. He explains that, while this is not the R-Project, a similar process is being used as is planned there, in the section of Custer PPD’s service territory. They are using helicopters by Ferguson and Sons and Contractor Great Plains Power LLC out of Grand Island to hover over the powerlines in order to protect the ground below from land equipment.

In this process, Custer PPD is able to place bird diverters on the lines to protect the wildlife above, and the ground below, all while making sure people have the power they need.