NE — State Policy Updated 2026-07-17

Nebraska

Nebraska Advantage Act Standalone data center exemptions ImagiNE Nebraska Act State-level water and air permitting New 2026 data center reporting and large-load standards Local environmental and operational constraints Water Constraints

1) Incentive programs

Nebraska Advantage Act (Neb. Rev. Stat. § 77-5725)

  • Tier 2 Large Data Center eligibility: Investment in qualified property of at least $200,000,000 and hiring at least 30 new employees qualify a large data center for Tier 2 treatment; the same statute closed new Tier 2 applications after December 31, 2020, so the program now matters primarily for existing agreements and historical projects. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 77-5725, accessed 2026-06-10
  • Sales/use tax incentives and direct payment permits: Tier 2 large data centers and qualifying sequential Tier 5 projects may receive sales/use tax exemptions or refunds during entitlement years after meeting employment and investment levels, with direct payment permit mechanics in § 77-5725(3). Neb. Rev. Stat. § 77-5725, accessed 2026-06-10; Nebraska DOR Direct Payment Permits, accessed 2026-06-10
  • Investment, wage, and personal property incentives: Tier 2 large data center projects can receive wage credits, a 10% investment credit, and personal property tax exemptions for computer systems and other project personal property during statutory exemption windows. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 77-5725, accessed 2026-06-10

Standalone data center exemptions (Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 77-2704.62 and 77-202(10))

  • Sales/use tax exemption before repeal: Section 77-2704.62 exempted qualifying tangible personal property and services acquired by a person operating a Nebraska data center for subsequent use outside the state, and LB209 (2023) expanded the exemption to include data center equipment, electricity and fuel for generators, construction materials, and contractor purchases as purchasing agent. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 77-2704.62, accessed 2026-06-10; LB209 Intro PDF, 2023-01-09
  • LB901 repeal now partly operative: LB901, approved by the Governor on April 7, 2026, repealed § 77-2704.62 effective July 1, 2026; the separate removal of the data center personal property tax exemption in § 77-202(10) becomes operative January 1, 2027. LB901 Slip Law, 2026-04-07; Nebraska Department of Revenue, accessed 2026-07-17
  • Official tax expenditure baseline: The Nebraska Department of Revenue estimated the § 77-2704.62 data center sales/use tax expenditure at $7.084 million in its 2024 full report and $5.667 million in its 2025 interim report; the 2024 report listed the separate data center personal-property exemption without an available estimate. Nebraska Department of Revenue, 2024-10-15; Nebraska Department of Revenue, 2025-10-15

ImagiNE Nebraska Act (Chapter 77, Article 68)

  • Qualified locations include data center-type activities: “Data Processing, Hosting, and Related Services” (NAICS 518210) and “Computer Facilities Management Services” (NAICS 541513) are qualified locations under the ImagiNE Nebraska Act. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 77-6818, accessed 2026-06-10
  • Sales/use tax incentive thresholds: ImagiNE sales/use tax incentives require, depending on tier, thresholds such as $5 million investment plus 30 new employees, $50 million investment, or $250 million investment plus 250 new employees during the ramp-up period. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 77-6831, accessed 2026-06-10
  • Wage/benefits standards: The definition of “number of new employees” requires health coverage and wages at or above 150% of the Nebraska statewide average hourly wage, subject to statutory details for equivalent employees. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 77-6815, accessed 2026-06-10
  • Post-LB901 structure: LB901 removed the standalone data center carveouts but did not remove data center eligibility from ImagiNE’s broader qualified-location structure, a point emphasized by Good Jobs First’s June 2026 critique. Good Jobs First, 2026-06-05; Neb. Rev. Stat. § 77-6818, accessed 2026-06-10

2) Restrictions, reporting, and moratoriums

State-level water and air permitting

New 2026 data center reporting and large-load standards

Local environmental and operational constraints

  • Noise limits example: Papillion’s municipal code sets maximum permitted sound levels, illustrating how municipal ordinances can constrain data center operations such as generator testing. Papillion Code of Ordinances § 135-3, accessed 2026-06-10
  • Otoe County moratorium: Otoe County commissioners voted in May 2026 to suspend permits needed for new data centers for up to one year so the county could study the issue and update regulations. Nebraska Public Media/Flatwater Free Press, 2026-05-24
  • Madison County permitting: Madison County adopted special-permit requirements for data centers in May 2026, preserving a project-review pathway rather than imposing a moratorium. Nebraska Public Media/Flatwater Free Press, 2026-05-24
  • County moratorium wave: By July 16, 12 counties had data-center moratoriums in place: Butler, Box Butte, Custer, Dundy, Furnas, Hayes, Harlan, Johnson, Kearney, Logan, Otoe, and Seward. Logan County’s July 15 action imposed a 12-month pause and also covered wind, solar, and cryptocurrency-mining facilities. Nebraska Public Media, 2026-07-16
  • Seward County: Commissioners unanimously approved a one-year moratorium on June 30 while the county develops regulations and studies water, electricity, roads, noise, and decommissioning, including a planned hydrogeologic study. Nebraska Public Media, 2026-06-30
  • Pending, rejected, and broader pauses: As of July 17, planning commissions in Cass, Gage, and Garfield Counties had recommended moratoriums but final county-board action was still pending; Gage’s recommendation was for 18 months. Lincoln County commissioners rejected a moratorium and subsequently faced a recall drive. Separately, Cherry County adopted a six-month pause on all new conditional-use permits on July 14 to slow potential data center development, so it was not included in the 12-county data-center-specific count. Nebraska Public Media, 2026-07-16; News Channel Nebraska, 2026-06-24; News Channel Nebraska, 2026-07-14
  • Water-use disclosure and mitigation: Newly released company data showed Google’s three Nebraska data centers consumed approximately 732.1 million gallons in 2025, up from 46.6 million gallons in 2022 and 134.7 million in 2023. Google also announced a $3 million grant to expand MUD leak detection over 500 miles of high-priority Omaha-area mains; MUD estimated the completed system could save as much as 1 billion gallons annually. Flatwater Free Press, 2026-07-08; Nebraska Public Media, 2026-06-03
  • No statewide construction moratorium: No statewide data-center-specific construction moratorium was enacted by July 17, 2026; Nebraska’s restrictions instead combine state reporting and large-load rules, water and air permitting, and increasingly active local zoning. Nebraska Legislature LB1010 Actions, 2026-04-14; Nebraska Public Media, 2026-07-16

3) Local governance (state vs. local control)

  • County zoning authority: County boards may adopt zoning resolutions with the force of law, issue permits, and enforce zoning within zoned areas, making county approvals a core gatekeeper for unincorporated data center sites. Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 23-114 and 23-114.04, accessed 2026-06-10
  • City/village zoning authority: Municipalities may create zoning districts and regulate building use, with public-hearing requirements for zoning changes, giving cities and villages direct siting authority for municipal data center projects. Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 19-902 and 19-904, accessed 2026-06-10
  • Local control remains practically important: The 12 county moratoriums in place by July 16, plus additional pending recommendations, show that counties retained substantial land-use leverage even as the Legislature enacted statewide energy and reporting statutes. Nebraska Public Media, 2026-07-16
  • LB663 county-review deadlines: LB663, approved February 24 and effective July 18, standardizes county conditional-use and special-exception review. It requires a 30-day completeness determination, written notice of missing information within 10 days, and a decision within 90 days after an application is deemed complete; a county-board application is deemed granted if the board misses its 90-day deadline. These rules can apply to county data center siting applications without displacing counties’ substantive zoning authority. LB663 Slip Law, 2026-02-24; Nebraska Legislature LB663 Actions, 2026-02-24

4) Legislative activity (2024-2026)

Enacted or current law changes affecting incentives

Enacted 2026 energy and reporting laws

2026 bills that did not pass separately

  • LB468 (2025 carryover): LB468 would have eliminated a sales tax exemption relating to data centers, but it was indefinitely postponed on April 17, 2026. Nebraska Legislature LB468 Actions, 2026-04-17
  • LB1131 (2026): LB1131 proposed eliminating data center personal property and sales/use tax exemptions; portions were amended into LB901 and LB1131 itself was indefinitely postponed on April 17, 2026. Nebraska Legislature LB1131, 2026-04-17
  • LB1111 (2026): LB1111 proposed an annual data center load report and public-power supplier duties; portions were amended into LB1010 and LB1111 itself was indefinitely postponed on April 17, 2026. Nebraska Legislature LB1111, 2026-04-17
  • LB1064 (2026): LB1064’s proposed large-load customer rules were incorporated into LB1010; LB1064 itself was indefinitely postponed on April 17, 2026. Nebraska Legislature LB1064, 2026-04-17
  • LB1259 (2026): LB1259 proposed a Grid Modernization Act with a flexible-load tariff and private-generation framework; it did not pass and was indefinitely postponed on April 17, 2026. Nebraska Legislature LB1259 Actions, 2026-04-17
  • LB1257 (2026): LB1257 was a broader tax bill that would have eliminated certain sales tax exemptions and was indefinitely postponed on April 17, 2026. Nebraska Legislature LB1257, 2026-04-17

5) Notable projects and operators

  • Meta (Facebook) - Papillion (Sarpy County): Nebraska’s economic development announcement identified Facebook’s Papillion data center as the company’s first Nebraska data center and a major investment in Sarpy County. Nebraska Department of Economic Development, 2017-04-04
  • Google - Lincoln, Omaha, and Papillion: Google’s Nebraska data center page identifies active Nebraska communities in Lincoln, Omaha, and Papillion, states that Google has invested more than $15 billion in Nebraska since Papillion was built in 2019, Omaha was built in 2022, and Lincoln was announced in 2023, and reports $4.2 billion+ of statewide economic activity in 2025. Google Data Centers, accessed 2026-06-10
  • Potential Google/Tenaska/Tallgrass large-load proposal: Flatwater Free Press reported on March 13, 2026 that documents described a possible Google Nebraska data center using more than three times Lincoln’s summer peak electricity demand and powered by a privately built gas plant; Grist reported on March 24, 2026 that the documents described a 1,000-3,000 MW load range and potential carbon capture component, while noting that the proposal had not been publicly announced and its status was uncertain. Flatwater Free Press, 2026-03-13; Grist, 2026-03-24
  • Southeast Nebraska land assembly and opposition: Flatwater reported that, as of March 11, 2026, Tenaska had optioned over 2,600 acres across southeast Nebraska, including at least 1,000 acres in Gage County, at least 450 acres in Lancaster County, at least 860 acres in Cass County, and nearly 300 acres in Otoe County; later May reporting connected those discussions to Otoe and Gage County moratorium debates. Flatwater Free Press, 2026-03-13; Nebraska Public Media/Flatwater Free Press, 2026-05-24
  • Cass County status update: Tenaska moved from private land assembly to limited public disclosure by June 8, when its representative told the Cass County Planning Commission that the company was in the very early stages of developing a natural-gas generation project paired with a large industrial user. July reporting put its Cass County options above 1,300 acres, including a reported 1,354-acre tract along U.S. 75; neither the official minutes nor Google publicly confirmed Google as the customer. Cass County Planning Commission, 2026-06-08; KETV, 2026-07-13
  • Fortitude Mining - Grand Island: A 12 MW cryptocurrency/data-mining facility at 380 Museum Drive was nearing completion in late June and expected to open in July or August. The City Council approved a fully interruptible electric-service agreement on June 23; the project is not expected to use city water or wastewater, and no capital-investment or permanent-employment figure was publicly disclosed. Central Nebraska Today, 2026-06-26
  • Monolith/Crusoe proposal - Hallam: Monolith filed a zoning-text amendment and site-approval request for a Crusoe “AI factory” data center on roughly 10 acres at its Hallam carbon-black campus. The village planning commission heard the proposal on July 15, with local approval sought for September 7; the applicants had not disclosed investment value or MW demand by July 17. Nebraska Public Media, 2026-07-16

Notes / gaps