Signed into law by the Governor
Require the provision of electric service to customers that own an agricultural self-generation facility ↗
latest roll call: Final Reading · 02/21/2025 · Yea 48 · Nay 0 · Not voting/absent 1 (Vote Record)
| Sponsor | Sen. John Cavanaugh (District 9) (Introduced 01/09/2025) |
|---|---|
| Sponsor Ranking | The Nebraska Legislature is officially nonpartisan, and no published ideology measurement of its members is in our database - so none is shown. This page shows how members voted, never where anyone places them. |
| KJV verdict | NEITHER · 0 grounds ↓ |
| Committees | Natural Resources |
| Latest Action | 02/26/2025 Approved by Governor on February 25, 2025 |
| Roll Call Votes | 3 |
| Source | view on nebraskalegislature.gov (new tab) → |
Brief (4)
If it passes, what changes
This bill sets rules for small farm-based power generators connecting to the local electric grid.
- §1 defines "agricultural self-generation facility": methane, wind, solar, biomass, hydropower, or geothermal, 100 kW or less.
- §1 requires the facility be on the same premises as the owner-generator's electric account and controlled by them.
- §1 requires a device preventing backfeed to the local distribution system, and excludes net metering.
- §1 bars a local distribution utility from denying or refusing service to an owner-generator.
- §1 subjects the owner-generator to the utility's interconnection, safety, rate, and service-agreement requirements.
- §1 lets the utility set rates or fees to fully cover its cost of serving the owner-generator.
- §1 requires the owner-generator to notify the utility of intent to install the facility.
Does it do what it claims
The title matches the operative text: it defines terms and guarantees electric service for qualifying farm self-generation.
- The title's "define terms" matches §1(1)'s six defined terms.
- The title's "provide for electric service" matches §1(2)'s non-denial rule.
- The bill explicitly excludes net metering, so it does not claim to create a net-metering right.
- Cost recovery is left to the utility, not fixed by the bill, matching the title's narrow "as prescribed" framing.
The case each way
The dispute is whether guaranteeing connection while letting utilities set the cost is enough protection for farmers.
- For: §1(2) removes a utility's ability to simply refuse a qualifying small generator, guaranteeing access.
- For: §1(1)(b)(v) backfeed-prevention and §1(1)(b)(vi) net-metering exclusion limit grid risk and utility cost exposure.
- Against: §1(2) lets utilities set "rates or fees necessary to fully cover its costs," with no ceiling stated.
- Against: the 100 kW cap in §1(1)(b)(iv) may exclude larger farm operations from this protection.
What the text cannot settle
This reading only covers what the text states; several practical details are left open.
- §1(2) does not state what interconnection or safety standards will apply, leaving that to each utility.
- §1(2) does not cap or define the rates/fees a utility may charge an owner-generator.
- §1(3) does not specify a notice deadline, form, or utility approval process.
- The text does not state any statewide fiscal or rate impact on non-generating customers.
Written by claude-sonnet-5 from the Slip Law of this bill on 2026-09-13, and from nothing else. It is a reading, not a source: bullets naming a section this bill does not contain are dropped before the page is built, but the prose is not otherwise checked. The verdict above does not come from it.
KJV verdict (0)
NEITHER — The KJV does not speak to this bill
This bill only says a power utility may not cut off a farm that runs its own small wind, solar, or similar generator, and that the farm must follow the utility's safety rules, pay its fair share of costs, and give notice before installing. The scriptures in the standard do not speak to electric hookup rules between a utility and a farm. Stretching a verse to cover it would be dishonest.
Read against the KJV standard from the Slip Law text on 2026-09-13. Every quotation of the bill is checked against the bill's text and every verse is quoted from the 1769 text, not from the model.
Text (4)
- Introduced (new tab) (application/pdf)
- Final Reading (new tab) (application/pdf)
- Slip Law (new tab) (application/pdf)
- Engrossed (new tab) (application/pdf)
Each link opens the legislature's own document.
All Actions (14)
| Date | Actor | All Actions |
|---|---|---|
| 02/26/2025 | Approved by Governor on February 25, 2025 | |
| 02/21/2025 | Presented to Governor on February 21, 2025 | |
| 02/21/2025 | President/Speaker signed | |
| 02/21/2025 | Passed on Final Reading 48-0-1 | |
| 02/13/2025 | Placed on Final Reading | |
| 02/07/2025 | Advanced to Enrollment and Review for Engrossment | |
| 01/31/2025 | Placed on Select File | |
| 01/29/2025 | Advanced to Enrollment and Review Initial | |
| 01/29/2025 | Cavanaugh, J. AM69 adopted | |
| 01/29/2025 | Cavanaugh, J. AM69 filed | |
| 01/27/2025 | Placed on General File | |
| 01/15/2025 | Notice of hearing for January 22, 2025 | |
| 01/13/2025 | Referred to Natural Resources Committee | |
| 01/09/2025 | Date of introduction |
Votes (3)
02/21/2025 · Final Reading · 48-0-1
Yea (48): Andersen, Ibach, Arch, Jacobson, Armendariz, Juarez, Ballard, Kauth, Bosn, Lippincott, Bostar, Lonowski, Brandt, McKeon, Cavanaugh, J., Cavanaugh, M., Meyer, Clements, Moser, Clouse, Murman, Conrad, Prokop, DeBoer, Quick, DeKay, Raybould, Dorn, Riepe, Dover, Rountree, Dungan, Sanders, Fredrickson, Sorrentino, Guereca, Spivey, Hallstrom, Storer, Hansen, Storm, Hardin, Strommen, Holdcroft, von Gillern, Hughes, Wordekemper, Hunt
Not voting / absent (1): McKinney
01/29/2025 · ADVANCE TO E&R INITIAL · 41-0-8
Yea (41): Andersen, Ibach, Arch, Armendariz, Juarez, Ballard, Kauth, Lippincott, Bostar, Lonowski, Brandt, McKeon, Cavanaugh, J., McKinney, Cavanaugh, M., Meyer, Clements, Moser, Murman, Conrad, Prokop, Quick, DeKay, Raybould, Dorn, Riepe, Dover, Dungan, Sanders, Fredrickson, Sorrentino, Guereca, Hallstrom, Hansen, Storm, Hardin, Holdcroft, von Gillern, Hughes, Wordekemper, Hunt
Not voting / absent (8): Jacobson, Bosn, Clouse, DeBoer, Rountree, Spivey, Storer, Strommen
01/29/2025 · AM 69 Cavanaugh, J. · 44-0-5
Yea (44): Andersen, Ibach, Arch, Armendariz, Juarez, Ballard, Kauth, Lippincott, Bostar, Lonowski, Brandt, McKeon, Cavanaugh, J., McKinney, Cavanaugh, M., Meyer, Clements, Moser, Clouse, Murman, Conrad, Prokop, DeBoer, Quick, DeKay, Raybould, Riepe, Dover, Dungan, Sanders, Fredrickson, Sorrentino, Guereca, Spivey, Hallstrom, Storer, Hansen, Storm, Hardin, Holdcroft, von Gillern, Hughes, Wordekemper, Hunt
Not voting / absent (5): Jacobson, Bosn, Dorn, Rountree, Strommen
Every roll call as the legislature recorded it, with each member's vote by name.
Sponsors (1)
- Sen. John Cavanaugh [District 9] — primary sponsor
Committees (1)
| Committee | Activity | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Natural Resources | Referred | 01/13/2025 |
Amendments (1)
| Amendment | By | Date | Outcome | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AM69 | Cavanaugh, J. | adopted |
Fiscal Notes & Statements (3)
The legislature's own companion documents; each link opens the official copy.
Related Bills (0)
No related bill information was received.
How this was worked out (1)
1. What was read
| version | Slip Law |
| file | 03-slip-law.pdf |
| sha256 | 15b8fb108de447fe8126ebc8d4447506 |
| characters | 2,742 |
2. What it was read against
| the standard | bills/kjv_prompt.txt, sha256 79671b42553a40fe28a8ac9c8ce9e60a |
| model | claude-fable-5-1 |
| read on | 2026-09-13 |
| the model was shown | the standard -- the verses of the 1769 text, quoted in full -- and the bill's words, and nothing else |
3. The grounds (0)
| none -- the standard does not speak to what this bill does |
4. How the verdict follows
| FAIL grounds | 0 |
| PASS grounds | 0 |
| the rule | any FAIL ground fails the bill -- even one, even beside good provisions (1 Corinthians 5:6), even for a good end (Romans 3:8); PASS grounds alone pass it; no grounds, no verdict. No counting, no weighing, nothing added up. |
| verdict | NEITHER — The KJV does not speak to this bill |
5. What this cannot tell you
Every ground above quotes the bill and quotes the verse, so each can be checked. What the model did not raise cannot be checked the same way: a provision it passed over looks exactly like one that is not there. How often a ground is wrong, and how often one is missing, are not known.
Bill data comes from the Nebraska Legislature's own website, scraped and stored by our own pipeline; titles, sponsors, actions and vote tallies are shown as the Legislature published them. Nothing is generated. Nebraska's Legislature is unicameral and officially nonpartisan; its members carry no party label here because they carry none there. No published ideology measurement is in our database, so no bill or member on this site is placed on a left-right axis: every meter is a roll-call tally, labeled (Vote Record).