Some Nebraska communities are cashing in on renewables. Others are being left behind.

Nebraska taxes wind and solar projects based on how much power they can generate, and that money flows to local counties, schools, and other districts instead of standard property taxes. One school district, O'Neill, used about $7.6 million collected over nine years to help pay for a $13.2 million expansion of its junior-senior high school, easing the cost for local taxpayers.

Statewide, the tax has brought in more money as more renewable projects have been built, rising from about $2 million in 2015 to over $13.6 million in 2025. But the benefits are uneven: more than 88 percent of that revenue went to just 10 of Nebraska's 93 counties. Some counties have pushed back against renewable projects entirely, citing concerns about property values, noise, safety, and effects on farmland, and have passed strict zoning rules or outright bans. Lawmakers recently expanded the tax to cover battery storage systems, though a proposal to raise the tax rate on renewables did not pass.

For homeowners, this mostly matters if you live in or near a community weighing a wind or solar project. Where these projects get built, the tax revenue can ease pressure on local property taxes and fund things like school upgrades. Where communities block them, that potential revenue and any local economic benefits don't materialize. Whether this affects your own tax bill or local services depends heavily on what's happening in your specific county, since the impact so far has been concentrated in a small number of places.