Fairbury Approves $15 Million Finance Agreement for Electric Line Upgrades

The Fairbury City Council voted unanimously to approve a $15 million financing agreement to complete a second connecting power line into Fairbury from the south.At this time, Fairbury is fed electricity from the north by two lines that run parallel to each other and about a mile apart from each other. The risk is that an event that could take out one of those lines, such as a storm, would likely take out the other one as well, leaving the city without power, potentially for an extended period of time. With that in mind, the city approved another line.The project is called the Steele City Transmission Line Project and a funding source is needed to continue the project.The city entered contract with Nebraska Public Power District (NPPD) for phase I of the project in November of 2024 and has already submitted payment for the transformer in the amount of $2,140,000.00, with the next payment being due in May 2025 (engineering services/material commitments), and in October 2026 a payment of $2,140,000.00 will be due (final construction/commissioning/closeout).Instead of borrowing the entire amount at once, this agreement will allow the city to draw up to $15 million dollars from the bond, allowing this to be completed in phases as the project moves forward. The initial bond draw amount will be $5.3 million, which will suffice the payments due via the NPPD contract, with $2,140,000 being reimbursable to the city.The bond carries an interest rate of 4.9 percent on a 20-year schedule.

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