Dorchester Times: How To Get Rich Quick: Land A Public Power Job

Tuesday, November 19, 2024

How To Get Rich Quick: Land A Public Power Job

Nearly a century ago, populist Nebraska Sen. George Norris worked to establish the Cornhusker State’s public power system.

Norris believed publicly owned electric generation and transmission would mean less expensive electricity compared to that produced and delivered by shareholder-owned utilities. Because of Norris' influence, no private electric utilities have operated in Nebraska since the late 1940s.

Nebraska law specifically states that electric service shall be provided at as "low overall cost as possible, consistent with sound business practices."

Despite some clear advantages, public power brings with it some downsides; one of them is an entrenched, well-paid bureaucracy that faces little public scrutiny or transparency, especially when it comes to their compensation.

The Flatwater Free Press -- a next-generation publication, like the Dorchester Times -- recently published the annual salaries of Nebraska's highest paid public employees. The list shows that 21 of the two dozen top-paid public employees are employed by public power.

Here's just a handful of individuals who made the list:

- John Dent, Executive VP & Chief Nuclear, Nebraska Public Power District, $1,308,780

- Thomas Kent, President & CEO, Nebraska Public Power District, $967,113

- Luis Fernandez, President & CEO, Omaha Public Power District, $764,330

- Khalil Dia, Site Vice President, Nebraska Public Power District, $708,477

- Kevin Wailes, Chief Executive Officer, Lincoln Electric System, $585,042

- Billy Chapin, General Manager of Plant Operations, Nebraska Public Power District, $473,883

- John McClure, Executive Vice President External Affairs, Nebraska Public Power District, $454,942

- Jeffrey Bishop, Vice President-Fin Srvcs & CFO, Omaha Public Power District, $450,780

- Troy Via, COO & VP Utility Operations, Omaha Public Power District, $434,239

- Kathleen Brown, VP & CIO -Bus Tech & Build Srvcs, Omaha Public Power District, $429,556

These executives aren't working at for-profit companies; they are employed by regulated, consumer-owned, public entities.

The next time you see your elderly parents or grandparents struggling to pay their electricity bill, remember these salaries. Think about who is paying for this excess compensation and how it's hurting the public's bottom line.

Mr. Norris is rolling in his grave.

1 comment:

AnonymousNovember 20, 2024 at 7:50 PM
Try living in an area where the power is privately owned and operated - the rates are considerably higher and the service is garbage. Those people in those roles you mention are doing a job that most of us couldn’t even fathom doing.
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Dorchester: A Good Little Family Town

Dorchester, Nebraska (est. population 630) is located in northern Saline county. Close in proximity to Interstate 80, Dorchester is only 25 minutes from the state capital of Lincoln (est. population 250,000) and about 55 minutes from Omaha (metro population 725,000).

Dorchester's median resident age is 37 years. In 2005, Dorchester had a median family income of approximately $35,600. The median house value was about $63,000. About 95 percent of Dorchester residents commute to work via Interstate and highways.

The village has a quality public school, which received a $4.1 million expansion and modernization in 2008; it offers a small classrooms and individualized attention. Total enrollment of grades K-12 is around 230-250 students.

Ancestries of the Dorchester area are primarily German (42.4%), Czech (24.9%), Irish (12.5%), English (5.4%), and Dutch (4.9%).

Dorchester Historical Facts

* On July 4, 1871, the railroad reached Dorchester.
* Incorporated in 1881, Dorchester's population grew from 200 to 500 by 1882.
* In 1882, Dorchester had 90 buildings, 35 of which were businesses or public facilities. Brick buildings lined both sides of Washington Avenue for two blocks.
* Dorchester's longest-running newspaper was The Dorchester Star, which was published until the late 1940s.
* By 1889, Dorchester's population is said to have reached 800, while the town housed an opera house, a two-story brick schoolhouse with a bell tower, and four churches.
* By the 1910s, Dorchester had electricity, a water tower and a fire department.
* Dorchester's main arteries, Highways 6 and 33, were graveled in the 1940s.
* Dorchester's first irrigation well was drilled on Chris Weber's farm and rural electrification was finished following WWII.

A Village with History

Dorchester is one of the "alphabet towns" on the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad line built west from Lincoln. The town site was selected for its pleasant location in the northern part of Saline County, about eight miles west of Crete. This situation is an attractive one, being on the level prairie land, midway between the West Blue River and Turkey Creek. The first named stream is three miles north, and the latter about the same distance south from the town. Dorchester was platted in 1870 and incorporated in 1881. The name "Dorchester" came from either for a suburb of Boston by that name or a town in England. No one is sure. Two of the very first settlers were James Seely and Edward McIntyre, who both made Dorchester their permanent home.

Dorchester: In The Beginning

Here is a look at Dorchester around 1890, less than a decade after its official incorporation, as documented by Andreas' History of the State of Nebraska:
* POPULATION: "About 300, and is made up of a substantial and progressive class of citizens, who are moral and industrious. ... The town grew but very little until the year 1879, for the reason that Pleasant Hill, on Turkey Creek, a short distance south, was the county seat and naturally drew a trade for quite a large scope of country."
* BUSINESS: "The business and professional interests of the town are represented by three general merchandise stores, two drug, one grocery, one furniture, two hardware, and two millinery stores, one bank, two restaurants, two hotels, three livery stables, a post office, one newspaper office, two elevators, two lumber yards, two coal yards, two blacksmith shops, two lawyers and four physicians."
* SCHOOL: "The schoolhouse is a good one. The schoolhouse was built in 1872, since which time the public schools have been continually kept up. The present schoolhouse is 24' x 40' in size, two stories high. The school is graded and consists of three departments. The house is found too small, and arrangements will soon be made to increase its size."
* CHURCHES: "There are three substantial churches."
* HOMES: "The residence portion of the village is made up of neat houses of different styles of architecture, but none of them very large."
* NEWSPAPER: "The Dorchester Star, which was established August 21, 1881, by H. C. Bittenbender, who edited it until January 19, 1882, when he sold it to Ryerson & Bullock, the present proprietors. The Star is a bright weekly paper, five-column quarto, in size, and is Republican in politics."