Scott Patterson

OMAHA (KPTM) - There's a change coming in the way our electricity is generated.  On Wednesday the Omaha Public Power District announced a new initiative aimed at increasing renewable energy.

"Our world has changed," says OPPD President and CEO Gary Gates.  "We knew it would, and we have been planning for that day."

OPPD says by the year 2020 it wants ten percent of its electricity to be produced using renewable energy sources.

"We don't know that all our renewable additions will be wind," says Gates.  "But it's safe to say that wind energy will play an important role in meeting that target."

OPPD is still negotiating where new wind turbines will go.  They'll be built by independent companies that will then sell the power to OPPD.

"We've been evaluating renewable energy for a long time," says Gates.  "Now those resources are more economical."

If you factor in nuclear and other green power sources, OPPD aims to have more than 45 percent of its power generated without carbon emissions.  It's something many other states have already done with federal money.

"All of the federal legislation dealt with private power companies," says Governor Dave Heineman.  "And of course who's the only public power state in the country?  Nebraska."

That's why the state government stepped in to help.  Governor Heineman says it's already been a factor in luring new business, namely Yahoo's data center in La Vista.

"A number of companies are looking at states in terms of economic development, what is your commitment to renewable energy," says Heineman.  "It's one of the components."

The renewable energy goal is coupled with a push to get people to be more energy efficient in their homes.  OPPD says these efforts should delay the need for a new generating plant for more than ten years.