Data-center law in Nebraska

Neb. Rev. Stat. § 23-114

Applies to both

Authorizes a county board to adopt a comprehensive development plan and a zoning resolution regulating the location, height, bulk, and use of buildings and other structures, and the density of population, in the unincorporated area of the county; this authority lapses inside a city or village that has adopted its own zoning ordinance.

A data center sited in unincorporated Nebraska obtains its land-use approval, including any rezoning or conditional-use permit, under this county authority rather than under any state-level siting statute.

Source: Full text of law

Neb. Rev. Stat. § 70-1506

Effective 2026-07-18 · Applies to both

Defines a data center as a facility whose primary services are storing, managing, and processing digital data with a peak electricity demand of ten megawatts or more, and lets a public power supplier require the data center or cryptocurrency mining operation to bear the full cost of the infrastructure upgrades its load causes, including a direct payment or letter of credit, after a load study.

The owner or operator must notify the local public power supplier before installation, submit an annual report to the state and the Legislature's Natural Resources Committee on the facility's electricity and water use and tax incentives received, bear all decommissioning costs, and enter into a community benefit agreement with affected communities.

Source: Full text of law

Neb. Rev. Stat. § 81-1505(12)

Applies to both

Directs the Environmental Quality Council to adopt a rule requiring the owner or operator of an air contaminant source to obtain a construction permit before building. The council must also maintain a Clean Air Act-consistent operating permit program covering both major and minor sources. A data center's backup generator fleet permits as an air contaminant source under this program, administered by the state's environmental department.

Source: Full text of law

Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 77-6801 to 77-6847

Applies to private

Nebraska's principal economic-development incentive act names Data Processing, Hosting, and Related Services and Computer Facilities Management Services among the NAICS-coded business activities that make a project site a qualified location.

A taxpayer that invests at least fifty million dollars in qualified property at a qualified location, or invests five million dollars and hires thirty new employees, or invests two hundred fifty million dollars and hires two hundred fifty new employees, receives a refund of sales and use taxes already paid on qualifying property and an ongoing exemption from sales and use tax on further qualifying purchases for each year it stays at or above the required levels.

Source: Full text of law