Telecom & Utilities

FIBER OPTICS & TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Buffalo County has hard line communication services from Frontier Communications in Kearney and Nebraska Central Telephone Company (NCTC) in the surrounding communities and other communities of Central Nebraska.  Frontier and NCTC are both full service telecommunications providers including broadband Internet access and wireless networks.

Frontier’s Kearney office features digital switch technology, GTD-5 and DMS 100. Also: SS7, Frame Relay, ISDN PRI and BRI, Class Services, Centrex, Switched 56 & 64. Diverse routing avoids toll isolations and a fiber ring connects to remote switching points. Private line facilities include: DS1, DS3, and ADSL, which can be provisioned as required. AT&T owns a local P.O.P. located in Cabela's telemarketing facility on East Highway 30.

Frontier Communications 2302 1st Avenue (800) 921-8101

Nebraska Central Telephone Company PO Box 700 Gibbon, Nebraska 68840 (308) 468-6341

• Multiple Fiber Carrier Redundancy:  There are multiple fiber providers that serve Kearney.
• Frontier Communications > Diverse, Redundant Lit Route
• Pinpoint Network Solutions >  Diverse, Lit Route (some construction needed)
• Charter Cable > Diverse, Lit Route
• Qwest > Diverse Lit Route
• Windstream > Diverse, Lit Route
• AT&T > Full Digital Network Connectivity
• NPPD > Diverse Route (not on map below)

• Dark Fiber Availability:
• Pinpoint Network Solutions (Dark & Lit services can be dropped at any of 27 network access points from Denver to Chicago)

• Lit Services Availability & Capacity > Kearney, NE
• Frontier
• Private Line - OC-n (3 to 48)
• DIA (10Mbps to 10 Gig)
• Local Dial Tone (1FB to PRI)

• Pinpoint Network Solutions
• Private  Line – 
• OC-n (3 to 192)
• Ethernet (10Mbps to 10Gig)
• DIA (Internet)
• OC-n (3 to 192)
• Ethernet (10Mbps to 10Gig)
• Local Dial Tone (1FB to PRI)
• Charter Cable
• Private Line
• OC-n (3 to 48)
• Ethernet (10Mbps to 1Gig)
• DIA (10 to 100Mbps)
• Local Dial Tone (1FB)
• AT&T
  • Private Line
  • Point of Presence (POP)
  • Full Digital Network Connectivity
  • Local Dial Tone thru Local Carrier
• Qwest
• Private Line - OC-n (3 to 48)
• Windstream
• Private Line - OC-n (3-48)

• Exchange Locations:
• Frontier (LEC) – 1 exchange in Kearney
• Pinpoint Communications (CLEC) – 2 exchanges (Minden, Arapahoe)
• AT&T Point of Presence in Kearney - Capacity up to a DS-3 under present configuration
• Charter Cable (CLEC) – 1 exchange in Kearney
• Windstream (CLEC) – 1 exchange in Kearney

• Local Access Providers
• Frontier (LEC)
• Charter Cable (CLEC)
• Long Haul (AT&T IXC carrier POP in Kearney; with backup in Grand Island and Omaha.)
• Pinpoint Network Solutions (Omaha) – 2 POPs
• Qwest (Omaha) – 1 POP
• AT&T (Kearney) – 1 POP - 2 in Omaha
• Verizon (Omaha) – 1 POP
• Level(3) (Bellevue) – 1 POP
• Sprint (Omaha) – 1 POP
• Cogent (Omaha) – 1 POP
• 360 Networks (Omaha) – 1 POP

• Carrier Hotel – 1623 Farnam Street, Omaha, NE, 68102
• Pinpoint Network Solutions
• Verizon
• INS
• Iowa Telecom
• Cogent
• 360 Networks
• Windstream

• Route Diversity: Diverse fiber routes are available from Kearney to Omaha and Kearney to Denver.
• Redundancy:  Redundant fiber routes are available from Kearney to Omaha and Kearney to Denver.

ELECTRICITY

Nebraska Public Power District (NPPD), provides service by five 115,000 volt lines which tie to NPPD’s statewide high voltage grid. Included in the grid are 345,000 volt lines from the United States Bureau of Reclamation in South Dakota and Nebraska Public Power District’s 1,300,000 kW Gerald Gentleman generating station in western Nebraska and 800,000 kW Cooper Nuclear Station in eastern Nebraska. The city of Kearney and its industrial area are fed from 12 substations with a combined capacity in excess of 100,000 kVA. These substations are interconnected by a 34,500 volt sub-transmission ring. The distribution system consists of 25 circuits that are fed from these substations. Switching within the distribution system allows for each of these circuits to be fed from multiple substations. Thus, the versatility of the sub-transmission and distribution system provides a very reliable power supply. Nebraska Public Power District maintains a Retail Customer Care Center in Kearney in addition to being the central Nebraska headquarters to four transmission and operations substation crews located in Kearney.

NPPD has a reserve capacity of 600 megawatts.

An example of electric rates for 2009 are as follows:

(Rates shown are a blended average between summer and winter rates and include gross revenue tax for service within Kearney.  Calculations also include a 3% discount for customer ownership of substation.)

• 5 Megawatt Load          60% Load Factor     = 5.8 ¢ per kWh
• 10 Megawatts Load      75% Load Factor     = 5.3 ¢ per kWh
• 30 Megawatts Load      95% Load Factor     = 4.9 ¢ per kWh

For further information regarding electric rates and service prospective customers should contact: Nebraska Public Power District - (877) ASK NPPD or (877) 275 6773.

The Dawson Public Power District, a wholesale power customer of Nebraska Public Power District, serves the rural area surrounding Kearney. For information regarding electrical services in the Dawson Public Power District service area, contact: Dave Behle - (308) 234-3111.

NATURAL GAS

Northwestern Energy distributes natural gas in the community with general offices in Huron, South Dakota, and a division office in Kearney. K N Interstate Gas Transmission Company is the interstate pipeline carrier. The pressure of the six-inch pipeline serving the community is 400 pounds. Natural gas, with a Btu value of 1,000 btu/therm, is available for residential and commercial uses. Availability of firm gas service for industrial uses is subject to individual demand contracts. Average annual curtailment for interruptible customers was one day for the past three years. For further information regarding gas rates and service, prospective industrial customers should contact Daniel Wolf-  (308) 237-4123.

Natural gas is also supplied to the other communities of Buffalo County by SourceGas, through an 8 inch transmission pipeline with an operating pressure of approximately 800 to 1,000 pounds per square inch. SourceGas is also the distributor of natural gas within the community, serving residential, commercial, and industrial customers.  Natural gas is available for residential and commercial uses. Availability of natural gas for industrial uses is subject to individual situations. As specific requirements of an industrial prospect become available, information on gas service availability and applicable rates can be obtained by contacting SourceGas Service Center at (800) 563-0012.

Water, Sewer and Sanitation
City of Kearney
18 East 22nd Street
(308) 233-3214

WATER

The municipal water system in Kearney is supplied by 12 wells (average depth of 60 feet) at the Platte River well field and 5 city wells (average depth of 80 feet). The system, serving 99.99 percent of the city population, has a combined pumping capacity of 17,500 gallons per minute and an overhead and ground storage capacity of 2.5 million gallons. The average daily demand is 6.5 million gallons, and the historic peak daily demand is 19 million gallons. The system has a maximum capacity of 27.7 million gallons per day. The static pressure is 50 pounds per square inch and the residual pressure is 38 pounds per square inch.

Groundwater is available for industrial uses. A 60-foot well will produce approximately 1,000 gallons of water per minute. The water treatment plant (chlorination and fluoridation), with a daily capacity of 25 million gallons, is used for disinfection only. Seasonal fluctuations in the water table are due to recharge from the Platte River and vary from a static level of 9 to 14 feet.

The color of the water is clear, and averages 320 mg/l or 19 parts per million. The average tap water temperature varies from 56° in winter to 61° in summer.

SEWER

Kearney has a municipal sanitary sewer system and a storm sewer system. The sewer treatment plant (secondary treatment with trickling filters and aeration) was built in 1972 and has a daily capacity of 4.8 million gallons. The average daily flow is 4.1 million gallons and the historic peak daily discharge is 7 million gallons.

SOLID WASTE DISPOSAL

Municipally owned solid waste removal services are available in Kearney. The disposal site, located at 6711 West 56th street - 1/2 mile west of Cottonmill Park, is owned by the Kearney Area Solid Waste Agency and has an estimated life of 35 years.

RECYCLING

More than 1,400 residents participate in a curbside collection of recyclable program. The Sanitation Division provides 90-gallon containers free of charge to residents who wish to recycle. The city also maintains recycling drop-off boxes at three locations. Newspapers, magazines, junk mail, glass, tin, aluminum, plastic, and cardboard are acceptable items to be collected and processed. The residential recyclables, drop-off boxes, and the corrugated cardboard are processed at the recycling building. The recycling building processes 150 tons of material each month. Sales of recyclables combined with the avoidance of landfill tipping fees generates nearly $12,000 of revenue per month from the recycling program.