Sometimes you find the most unexpected tidbits in a seemingly uninspiring legislative bill.

This one, for example: A bill you would think by its one-line description — "Change provisions relating to formation, territory, and the operating area of public power districts" — is not something most people would spend 20 seconds contemplating.

So here's the 19-second version: It's about which Nebraska Public Power District customers will be represented on its board of directors and whether Lincoln should lose its two seats at the table.

Rural electric customers don't want Lincoln to get even more seats than the two they already have after the 2010 census shows an increase in Lancaster County's population. Many believe only those retail customers, those who get at least 50 percent of their power from NPPD, should have a say in setting rates. 

But a few Lincoln senators, and one from Omaha, say it's not just about the money. It's also about who should have a say in policy questions, such as where transmission lines are strung; where wind farms are located; and whether coal-fired power plants, a known polluter of Lincoln's air, should be expanded.

It's about the environment.

The Legislature debated the bill for two mornings — Thursday and Friday. Sen. Ken Haar of Malcolm, who introduced a couple of amendments, one for Lincoln Sen. Bill Avery who was off in North Carolina recovering from heart surgery, filibustered.

The amendments would take Lincoln's representation from two seats to one, which addresses the fairness issue, Haar said. But when the second amendment he offered finally came up for a vote on Friday just before adjournment, 34 senators couldn't hit their no votes fast enough.

He'll be back, he said, with more.

NPPD asked Sen. Deb Fischer of Valentine to introduce the bill that will change the makeup of its board. But even its own vote of support of the bill wasn't unanimous. At a December board meeting, members voted 8-2, and one abstained. The two voting against supporting the bill were Mary Harding of Lincoln and Gary Thompson of Beatrice.

Thompson said even though Lincoln and its electric system get only 30 percent of its power from NPPD, Lincoln is NPPD's second largest customer. NPPD collects $40 million a year from LES.

It makes no sense to deny Lincoln membership, he said.

In doing so, NPPD is giving representation to only those areas it serves directly.

"If you want to make it a cooperative, we can do it," he said. "But that is not public power. … It's owned and operated by the public, not the customers."

The bill ignores a law passed in 1986 that says electrical energy is important not only to ratepayers, but to the people and economy of those in proximate areas to those served. The law encourages a broad base of representation on the boards of public power districts.

Thompson brought that to the attention of the board, but other members interpreted the law's intent differently, he said.

If LB53 passes, he said, the bulk of the people in southeast Nebraska — the area of the Cooper Nuclear Station, the biggest employer with the biggest impact on the area  — will have no representation, he said.

But, Fischer said, every citizen has a board that represents them. LES board members, however, are appointed by the mayor, not elected.

And providers such as LES, Fischer said, have contracts to protect them.

Lincoln Mayor Chris Beutler sent a letter to the Legislature’s Natural Resources Committee, saying he would find the elimination of Lincoln representatives to the NPPD board troubling. He asked the committee to hold the bill and to conduct an interim study on the issue. 

"I am concerned that we have not yet had the opportunity to have a community-wide conversation on this issue," he said.

Lincoln Sen. Tony Fulton weighed in on the debate Friday just long enough to say that, at best, Lincoln residents don't understand NPPD issues and don't know who to vote for when asked to select a representative.

At worst, they don't care.

Haar countered that people in his district don't understand NPPD either.

But many also don't know who their state senators are.

"I have a responsibility to see that they're represented, even if they don't care themselves," Haar said. "That's my job."

Reach JoAnne Young at 473-7228 or jyoung@journalstar.com.