The Superior Express -

If all goes as members of the Superior City Council expect it will, the lights won’t go out and the city’s electrical energy customers will benefit from lower cost electrical power.

The five members of the city council present for the meeting voted unanimously Monday evening, to disconnect the city’s electrical energy system from the Nebraska Public Power District (NPPD).

For decades the public power agency was the city’s main electrical energy supplier. Since the Republican River power plant was decommissioned as part of the Kansas-Bostwick irrigation project, the city has received a portion of its electrical energy from hydro power plants located on the Missouri River.

The city began moving away from NPPD in 2016. At that time, it began shifting electrical energy purchases to AEP Energy Partners, a firm based in Ohio. The action taken Monday will complete on Jan. 1 the shift from NPPD to AEP.

An NPPD representative was present for Monday’s council meeting.

In an unrelated electrical energy matter, the council approved the creation of an additional commercial rate class which will offer a lower rate in exchange for agreeing to purchase large amounts of power while giving the city the right to interrupt the delivery of power when shortages develop. Rates have long been similar for large natural gas users.

The council approved on Monday the one and six-year street improvement plan presented at the Nov. 30 meeting. Major projects in the coming year will involve the repair of intersections in the downtown area. The intersections include the one at Second and Central, north side of Third and Commercial, the east and north halves of Fourth and Commercial and the entire Seventh and Kansas intersections. Armor coat projects include Fifteenth between Commercial and Dakota; Louden between Fourth and Fifth, Fourth Street from Louden to Collette, Guthrie from Fourth to Sixth, Fifth Street from Commercial to Kansas, Fifth Street from Marvin to Louden, Louden between Seventh and Eighth, Eighth Street from Commercial to Dakota and Kansas from Ninth to Twelfth.

Work on Montana Street near the Montana Meadows Subdivision is included the TIF Plan. Lincoln Park street improvements are dependent on drainage work.

The scope of the work to be done in 2022 may change if Nebraska Department of Transportation road improvement plans change. State plans include resurfacing portions of Highways 14 and 8 in the Superior area. The finalized timetable for that work may influence the city work.

Replacement of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Central Avenue crossing that was scheduled to be done by now has been delayed until after the first of the year. The crew that was to have done the work was sent to Exeter to deal with an emergency.

A contract was awarded to Moeller Electric for the conversion of lighting in the city administration building to LEDs. The Moeller firm bid $1,255.58. The only other bid received was for $5,441.