Can you choose your electricity provider in Nebraska?
No. Nebraska is the only state in the country where 100% of retail electricity is delivered by public power — municipal utilities, public power districts, and rural cooperatives, with zero investor-owned utilities and zero retail choice. There is no shopping site, no list of competing suppliers, and no "switch and save" offer to compare, because the structure that makes those possible in deregulated states doesn't exist here. One utility serves your address, full stop, and that utility's rates are approved through public, regulator-style oversight rather than set by market competition.
That isn't a loophole or an oversight — it's the whole design. Nebraska built an all-public-power system generations ago specifically to keep electricity delivery a not-for-profit, locally accountable function instead of a shareholder-owned business. So if you're searching for "Nebraska electricity providers" hoping to find a rate comparison tool, the honest answer is that the comparison-shopping model simply isn't part of how power is sold here.
What this means practically for a homeowner: the name on your bill is fixed the moment you buy or rent at a given address, and it won't change no matter how many other companies advertise cheaper electricity in neighboring states. The tradeoff for giving up choice is that Nebraska's public power model has historically kept average rates below the national mark, since there's no profit margin layered on top of the cost of generating and delivering power. Choice and price aren't the same lever, and in Nebraska's case, the state traded one for the other on purpose.
What electricity actually costs in Nebraska
Full Nebraska electricity price data (1990–2025)
| Year | Nebraska (¢/kWh) | US avg (¢/kWh) |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 6.2 | 7.8 |
| 1991 | 6.1 | 8.0 |
| 1992 | 6.3 | 8.2 |
| 1993 | 6.3 | 8.3 |
| 1994 | 6.3 | 8.4 |
| 1995 | 6.4 | 8.4 |
| 1996 | 6.3 | 8.4 |
| 1997 | 6.4 | 8.4 |
| 1998 | 6.5 | 8.3 |
| 1999 | 6.5 | 8.2 |
| 2000 | 6.5 | 8.2 |
| 2001 | 6.5 | 8.6 |
| 2002 | 6.7 | 8.4 |
| 2003 | 6.9 | 8.7 |
| 2004 | 7.0 | 9.0 |
| 2005 | 7.1 | 9.5 |
| 2006 | 7.4 | 10.4 |
| 2007 | 7.6 | 10.7 |
| 2008 | 7.9 | 11.3 |
| 2009 | 8.5 | 11.5 |
| 2010 | 8.9 | 11.5 |
| 2011 | 9.3 | 11.7 |
| 2012 | 10.0 | 11.9 |
| 2013 | 10.3 | 12.1 |
| 2014 | 10.4 | 12.5 |
| 2015 | 10.6 | 12.7 |
| 2016 | 10.8 | 12.6 |
| 2017 | 11.0 | 12.9 |
| 2018 | 10.7 | 12.9 |
| 2019 | 10.8 | 13.0 |
| 2020 | 10.8 | 13.2 |
| 2021 | 10.8 | 13.7 |
| 2022 | 10.8 | 15.0 |
| 2023 | 11.2 | 16.0 |
| 2024 | 11.5 | 16.5 |
| 2025 * | 12.3 | 17.3 |
Source: US EIA, average residential retail electricity price. Values in cents per kWh. * 2025 is preliminary.
The average Nebraska residential rate sits at 12.3 cents per kWh (EIA preliminary 2025 data) — still among the lower rates nationally, largely because public power districts operate at cost rather than for profit. But "low" doesn't mean "flat." Rates are up 73% since 2005, and over just the last decade the pace has held around 1.5% per year. That's a steady, compounding climb rather than a spike — the kind of trend that's easy to miss year to year but adds up to a materially bigger bill over a typical homeownership stretch. If your bill feels higher than it used to be even though your usage hasn't changed much, this multi-decade climb is a big part of why.
Why your rate is set the way it is
Because every Nebraska utility is publicly owned, rates aren't negotiated in a competitive market — they're set through a regulatory and governance process specific to public power. Municipal utilities answer to elected city councils or utility boards; public power districts and cooperatives answer to elected boards of directors; and larger rate changes typically go through public rate cases with hearings, similar in spirit to how investor-owned utilities are regulated elsewhere, just without a profit margin baked in for shareholders.
What actually moves the number on your bill is mostly fuel and infrastructure cost, not corporate profit. Nebraska's generation mix includes a meaningful share of coal, natural gas, wind, and nuclear, and when fuel costs rise or aging transmission and distribution infrastructure needs replacing, those costs flow through to rates over time — which is the mechanism behind that steady 1.5%-a-year climb. There's no shareholder dividend to trim, so cost control on the delivery side is really the main lever your utility has.
How to actually lower your bill
Since you can't shop for a cheaper supplier in Nebraska, every dollar of savings has to come from using less power, using it smarter, or generating some of your own. In practice, that means three levers:
Efficiency first. Heating and cooling typically dominate a Nebraska home's usage given the state's hot summers and cold winters. A programmable or smart thermostat, sealing obvious air leaks, and keeping your HVAC system on a maintenance schedule — see the electrical guide for panel and wiring basics that affect safe, efficient equipment operation — usually deliver the biggest, cheapest wins before you touch anything structural.
Rate schedule and billing options. Many Nebraska public power utilities offer time-of-use rates that reward shifting laundry, dishwashing, EV charging, or water heating to off-peak hours, plus budget billing programs that average your annual cost into a flat monthly payment so a brutal January or July doesn't blow up a single bill. Neither lowers your total usage, but both can reduce peak-rate exposure or at least make the cost predictable — ask your utility what's available for your account.
Rooftop solar, evaluated honestly. At 12.3 cents/kWh, Nebraska's payback math is slower than in high-cost states — solar saves you less per kWh generated here than it would in much higher-cost states. That doesn't make it a bad idea, but it does mean the math depends heavily on your specific public power utility's net-metering or buyback policy, since those vary district to district in ways they don't in investor-owned-utility states with one statewide rule. Run the numbers against your actual utility's terms — see the solar panels guide for how to evaluate the payback period before committing.
A practical checklist
- Confirm which public utility serves your address and log into their account portal — most publish rate schedules and program options there.
- Ask specifically about time-of-use rates and budget billing; both are common in Nebraska public power territories but rarely advertised upfront.
- Get a home energy audit, or at minimum check attic/wall insulation and HVAC filter/service schedule before winter and summer peaks.
- If considering solar, request your utility's net-metering or buyback terms in writing before getting quotes — the payback period hinges on it.
- Track your kWh usage month over month; a rising trend independent of rate hikes usually points to an aging appliance or HVAC system worth inspecting.
- Ignore any pitch to "switch your Nebraska provider" — there is no such market here, and the offer is a red flag, not a deal.
Sources
U.S. Energy Information Administration — Nebraska Electricity Profile
U.S. Energy Information Administration — Electric Power Data