City of Seward, Electrical Power

Larry Ruether, Directer of the City of Seward, Electrical Department, provided the program for our Kiwanis meeting this noon. Larry will complete 40 years with the Dep’t. this coming year. He told of the 2707 residential customers in the City and how their meters are read electronically and transmitted over power lines to where the City can see the daily usage of individual homes. He told of Tenneco being the City’s largest customer for Electrical service among other commercial users. The City’s 1,000 street lights are being converted to LED bulbs which cost $363 each but are to last 10 years and use much less electricity. The City purchases power from NPPD at a cost of around $600,000/month. Nebraska is still one of the few states with Public Power, and it’s provided to customers at comparatively low rates. The City is equipped to trade power with customers who may have solar or wind charging equipment. The usage of the City’s 5 charging stations for electric cars are gaining business. It was a great presentation. Larry had some opening comments and then answered questions for half and hour. We all learned a lot about something we usually just take for granted. We also had a great meal catered by Pac n Sav.