Graded Moderate and tightening. 8 laws, orders, rulings and local actions, each with its source, reviewed 23 October 2026.
LB 1010 (effective 17 Jul 2026) sets a $50,000 or $1,000 per MW study fee, site control, backup generation evidence and financial commitments, no own power.
LB 1010 (17 Jul 2026) requires financial commitments for transmission and generation and lets public power assign system costs to loads over 20 MW.
Twelve rural counties had pauses by 15 Jul 2026, none in the Omaha or Lincoln markets, and Lancaster County chose task forces over a pause.
The 20 Jul 2026 executive order stops new data center applications under ImagiNE Nebraska until guardrails are met, closing new awards.
The 20 Jul 2026 order has the economic development and water departments review proposals; no reporting mandate, NDA ban or limit exists.
Scored on rules in force, 1 to 5. 5 is the most regulated. Pending rules set the arrow.
Nebraska, served entirely by public power, tightened its position in 2026. LB 1010 requires utilities to adopt standards for loads over 20 MW and lets them assign system costs to those customers, and LB 1261 lets very large sites of 1,000 MW or more bring privately owned generation alongside; both took effect 17 July 2026. On 20 July 2026 Governor Jim Pillen signed an executive order that stops new data center applications under the ImagiNE Nebraska incentive program, requires state review of proposals and sets up a task force. He says this is not a moratorium and that siting decisions stay local; twelve counties have nonetheless adopted temporary data center moratoria of their own.
The 17-member Data Center Task Force, appointed in August 2026, is to study land, water and power impacts ahead of the 2027 session; no recommendations have been published and its reporting deadline is not confirmed. The governor's office has said further protections will at minimum likely include additional taxes on data companies, and Sen. Mike Jacobson plans a 2027 bill to codify the executive order. Planning commissions in Cass, Gage and Garfield counties have recommended moratoria awaiting board approval, and Lancaster County is weighing two task forces rather than a pause, aiming for a plan by the end of 2026. LB 1261's protection for co-located generation closes to contracts signed after 31 December 2031.
No statewide moratorium, but 1 local pause is in force as of 23 October 2026, in Twelve counties (Logan, Butler, Box Butte, Custer, Dundy, Furnas, Hayes, Harlan, Johnson, Kearney, Otoe, Seward). Proposals and expired pauses are not counted.
Tightening. Nebraska is graded Moderate, which means incentives alongside new costs, limits or local pushback. Governor suspended state incentives for large data centers in July. The outlook above says what is pending.
Nebraska sits in SPP. The grid operator decides how a new large load is studied, what it must bring or pay, and whether it can be curtailed first; the state decides siting, permits, tariffs and incentives.
Yes. Nebraska has paused, narrowed or ended a data center incentive in 2025 or 2026: Governor's office outlines next steps after executive order; Executive order suspending incentives for large data centers; Existing incentives: property tax exemptions total $519 million.
On Genloop's five-line rubric (1 least regulated, 5 most) Nebraska scores grid connection 3, power rates 3, siting and land use 2, tax treatment 4, permits and water 2, a mean of 2.8. The most regulated line is tax treatment: The 20 Jul 2026 executive order stops new data center applications under ImagiNE Nebraska until guardrails are met, closing new awards.
8 items: each is a law, order, tariff, ruling, utility action or local decision that changes what a data center must do, pay or disclose, or where it may be built. Failed and pending measures are marked. Each links to its source.
On 10 September 2026 the County Board discussed creating two task forces, one on energy and water and one on industrial and commercial zoning for data centers, with members from Lincoln Electric System, NPPD and the Chamber, aiming for a plan by the end of 2026. Commissioners said the goal is to stay open to data centers while placing them where they fit; no moratorium was adopted.
Source: wowt.comIn August 2026 the governor's office said data centers cannot get ImagiNE Act incentives until they meet the order's guardrails, and that it will work with the Legislature on further protections, at minimum likely including additional taxes on data companies.
Source: governor.nebraska.govGovernor Pillen named 17 members to the Nebraska Data Center Task Force created by his 20 July executive order, reported 18 August 2026. The task force is to study land, water and power impacts ahead of the 2027 session; its reporting deadline was not confirmed.
Source: wowt.comSigned 20 July 2026. It bars approval of new data center applications under the ImagiNE Nebraska Act (Pillen first said large-scale projects, then clarified it covers all new data center projects), has the Department of Economic Development and the Department of Water, Energy and Environment jointly review proposals, and creates a task force on land, water and power impacts. The governor said he is not proposing a moratorium. Sen. Mike Jacobson plans a 2027 bill to codify the order.
Source: nebraskaexaminer.comFigures the governor's office gave local press on 20 July 2026 put property tax exemptions granted to Nebraska data centers under the ImagiNE Nebraska Act from 1 January 2021 to 30 June 2026 at an estimated $519 million, on about $15 billion of exempted personal property, the background to the governor's order.
Source: wowt.comLogan County became the twelfth Nebraska county to halt data center construction on 15 July 2026 with a 12-month moratorium that also covers wind, solar and crypto mining, joining Butler, Box Butte, Custer, Dundy, Furnas, Hayes, Harlan, Johnson, Kearney, Otoe and Seward counties. Planning commissions in Cass, Gage and Garfield counties had recommended moratoria awaiting board approval. Lincoln County rejected one 3 to 2 in June.
Source: nebraskapublicmedia.orgPassed 10 April 2026 (49 to 0), approved by the governor 14 April, effective 17 July 2026. Public power utilities must adopt interconnection standards for loads over 20 MW at one site: disclosure of duplicate requests, evidence of backup generation, site control, financial commitments for transmission and generation, and a study fee of at least $50,000 or $1,000 per MW with the study due within a year. Utilities may set rates that assign system costs to these customers and may require load flexibility.
Source: nebraskalegislature.govPassed 10 April 2026, effective 17 July 2026. Privately owned generation next to an industrial customer with at least 1,000 MW of new load is shielded from condemnation by public power utilities if the Power Review Board approves and the owner contracts with a public power utility. Applies to contracts signed by 31 December 2031.
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