Nebraska businesses and households are actively involved in the coal industry as energy producers and as transportation providers. Nebraska has seven coal-fired electric generation stations. There are 839 workers employed at these stations, or in positions at other locations which are directly tied to coal-fired electricity generation, with annual wages and benefits of approximately $87 million. The stations benefit the Nebraska economy by providing reliable, low cost energy utilized by Nebraska industries, agricultural producers, commercial businesses and households. In addition, many of these stations generate power that is “exported,” meaning that it is purchased by out of state customers. Such export activity creates an economic impact on the state economy. Collectively, the 7 stations export approximately 9.6 percent of their output. These exports generate a direct economic impact of $55 million in output, $34 million in value added, $8 million in labor income and create 81 jobs in Nebraska. Multiplying this effect through the Nebraska economy generates a total economic impact of $77 million in output, $16 million in labor income and 246 jobs. This economic activity generates $4.1 million in income, sales and property taxes. These figures are reported in the first section of the table below.
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