history page

On September 12, 1946, the Rural Electrification Administration authorized a loan for $520,000 to the Cooperative for the construction of electric lines and substations. Because of the war and the difficulties in securing priorities for material, it was impossible to start immediately. In early 1948, it appeared as though this restriction on material would let up and it was time to get started. In March of 1948, Ed Wilson was selected as Manager of the Cooperative. The staking of lines and the accumulation of material started and in August the first contract for the construction of lines was signed with Griffin Construction Company. Because of the severe winter of 1948-49, the original contract was not completed until the summer of 1949.

In August 1949, the first farmer was connected to lines of the Niobrara Valley Electric Membership Corporation in Boyd County. A second contract for construction of lines was let and the first farm in Holt County was connected in February 1950. Today the Cooperative serves over 5,600 meters on 2,680 miles of line. The total electric plant investment to serve these customers has grown from $520,000 in 1946 to over $30 million today.

Niobrara Valley EMC's present headquarters, located at 427 North 4th street in O'Neill, was originally built by contract in the summer of 1956. In 1972, an addition was built that doubled the size of the building.

Niobrara Valley EMC expresses a debt of gratitude to the large number of people who worked unselfishly and mostly without recognition to establish the cooperative we have today.

August 1945	Articles of incorporation are filed.
October 1946	J.T. Murray of Spencer is appointed as counsel of cooperative.
February 1948	Directors approve Mr. Ed Wilson as manager.
July 1948	Authorization is given to lease a brick building on north 4th Street in O'Neill to be used as an office. One carload of conductor wire has arrived in O'Neill, approximately 125 miles of line have been staked in Boyd County.
March 1949	This is the first board meeting since December due to a severe blizzard which closed all roads during January and February.
June 1949	Authorization is given to complete purchase of existing electric facilities in Naper and Verdel.
August 1949	Boyd County is to be energized as rapidly as linemen can make connections.
October 1950	The cooperative has 550 members including the 11 directors now receiving electric service.
July 1951	Authorization is given to purchase Chambers Light & Power Company.
January 1955	METERS 2,373; ASSETS $2,947,027.00; ANNUAL REVENUE $277, 327.00; EMPLOYEES 15.
Summer 1956	Present office is now occupied.
February 1966	Manager Ed Wilson dies suddenly.
May 1966	Mr. Al Chantry approved as manager.
January 1970	METERS 2,820; ASSETS $3,666,608.00; ANNUAL REVENUE $765,532.00; EMPLOYEES 23.
January 1973	Mr. Walter Schmidt approved as manager.
October 1981	Cooperative makes first Patronage Capital payment to members.
January 1985	METERS 4,300; ASSETS $12,257,039.00; ANNUAL REVENUE $4,620,612.00; EMPLOYEES 24.
January 1990	Present Manager John Hoke approved.
June 1995	Automatic Load Control System for Irrigation wells activated.
December 1995	Cooperative is now “Debt Free”.
January 1998	METERS 4,932; ASSETS $15,305,150.00; ANNUAL REVENUE $5,945,392.00; EMPLOYEES 24.
January 2001	METERS 5,185; ASSETS $16,736,472.00; ANNUAL REVENUE $6,282,569.00; EMPLOYEES 25.
June 2003	Tornado strikes area causing damage to several homes and at least 210 irrigation systems. The cooperative had damage to 274 poles, 285 crossarms and 68 transformers. The total damage cost to the system was $367,692. The cooperative received disaster funds from FEMA of $305,643 that helped to offset a large portion of the cooperative's losses.
January 2004	METERS 5,361; ASSETS $18,091,832.00; ANNUAL REVENUE $7,589,056.00; EMPLOYEES 22.
November 27-28, 2005 Thanksgiving Blizzard - A Storm to Remember	On Thanksgiving weekend the cooperative experienced one of the worst ice and wind storms in recent memory. Efforts to restore power were hampered by blizzard conditions and roads blocked by snow. Over 90% of Niobrara Valley EMC members were without power on Monday the 28th and many remained so for several days. Mutual Aid crews from six other rural electric systems came to help with repair efforts increasing our work force from 14 to 48. Nebraska Public Power District sent additional crews which brought the work force to 81 linemen. All residential services had power restored by Wednesday, December 7th. Damage cost to the system totalled $800,000. The Federal government issued a disaster declaration for the area and the cooperative received funding from FEMA to help recover a portion of the repair cost.
January 2007 2nd Year of Holiday Storms Cause Millions in Damage	A holiday ice and wind storm hit the state of Nebraska for the second winter holiday season in a row. Niobrara Valley Electric was quite lucky this time around but much of the southern part of the state was hit hard. The thickest ice many have ever seen clung to everything. Steel transmission line poles collapse in the middle from the weight of the ice. This time Niobrara Valley crews went to the aid of our fellow rural electric systems hit by the damaging storm. Damage to Nebraska Public Power's transmission reached over 100 million dollars. Once again a disaster declaration was made for areas of the state and FEMA stepped in with much needed funding.
January 2007	METERS 5,652; ASSETS $19,400,146; ANNUAL REVENUE $8,346,073; EMPLOYEES 23.
April 1, 2007	Niobrara Valley EMC implements 2.6% surchage on to the members. The surcharge was assessed to Niobrara Valley EMC by our power supplier, Nebraska Public Power District due to the $100 million in damage to NPPD's transmission system during last winter's ice storm. This 2.6% surcharge is equal to a .001063 cent per kilowatt hour increase.