# Box Butte County, Nebraska: Power, Data Centers and the Local Economy Home to Alliance Box Butte County is one of the places pushing back on the data center build-out. Box Butte County is home to Alliance and Hemingford. The Moratorium Tracker holds 1 local measure here (1 in force); the latest is “County moratorium on data centers”. Construction employs 139, up 3.0% since 2019. 9 MW of that came online in 2019 or later, mostly solar. Its power plants have 9 MW of capacity, 100% of it solar. 9 MW of operating power plants, mostly solar 10.63¢ per kWh for Nebraska Public Power District residential customers, 2024 -0.7% total jobs since 2019, now 3,726 ## Cities and towns in Box Butte County Box Butte County is home to Alliance and Hemingford. Alliance7,914 residents Hemingford746 residents Unincorporated communities (governed by the county): Berea. Residents are 2025 Census estimates for the part of each city, town or township inside this county. Census publishes no annual estimate for unincorporated communities. ## What changed in Box Butte County | Measure | Then | Now | Change | Rank in Nebraska | |---|---|---|---|---| | Population (2020 → 2025) | 10,821 | 10,494 | ▼ 3.0% | 24th of 93 by size | | Total jobs (2019 → 2025) | 3,754 | 3,726 | ▼ 0.7% | 54th of 93 by growth | | Average annual pay (2019 → 2025) | $37,665 | $48,782 | ▲ 29.5% | — | | Construction jobs (2019 → 2025) | 135 | 139 | ▲ 3.0% | 31st of 35 by growth | | Unemployment rate (2019 → August 2026) | 3.4% | 3.1% | ▼ 0.3pts | — | | Generating capacity added since 2019 | — | 9 MW | | — | | Generating capacity retired since 2019 | — | 0 MW | | — | Nebraska Public Power District is the largest utility serving Box Butte County, one of 7 with territory here. Its residential customers paid an average 10.63¢/kWh in 2024. Employers here counted 3,726 jobs in 2025, down 0.7% from 2019. Unemployment was 3.1% in August 2026, against 3.4% in 2019. 10,494 people live here, down 3.0% since 2020. ## Who powers Box Butte County ### Utilities with service territory in Box Butte County | Utility | Ownership | Service | Residential customers (systemwide) | Residential price, 2024 | Commercial share of sales | |---|---|---|---|---|---| | Nebraska Public Power District | Political Subdivision | Bundled | 73,650 | 10.63¢ | 28% | | City of Alliance- (NE) | — | — | — | — | — | | Chimney Rock Public Power Dist | — | — | — | — | — | | Village of Hemingford - (NE) | — | — | — | — | — | | Northwest Rural Pub Pwr Dist | — | — | — | — | — | | Panhandle Rural El Member Assn | — | — | — | — | — | | WAPA-- Western Area Power Administration | Federal | Bundled | — | — | 98% | Customer counts, prices and sales shares cover each utility's whole system in the state, not only this county. Commercial sales include data centers. ### Operating power plants | Technology | Capacity | Share | |---|---|---| | Solar | 9 MW | 100% | | Largest plants | Owner | Technology | MW | Since | |---|---|---|---|---| | Alliance Solar | SE Municipal Nebraska, LLC | Solar | 8 MW | 2025 | | VS Hemingford NE Solar LLC | Valta Energy | Solar | 1 MW | 2020 | ## The Box Butte County labor market | Industry (2025) | Jobs | Average pay | Concentration vs U.S. | |---|---|---|---| | All industries | 3,726 | $48,782 | 1.00 | | Construction | 139 | $58,127 | 0.70 | Concentration is the BLS location quotient: 1.0 means the industry holds the same share of local jobs as it does nationally. Industry rows count private employers; cells BLS suppresses are left out. ## Data centers and local rules in Box Butte County ### Local measures | Measure | Status | Date | |---|---|---| | County moratorium on data centers | In force | — | ## Box Butte County and its neighbors Of the 5 counties that border Box Butte County, Scotts Bluff County carries the most build-out activity: data centers, planned generation and operating plants combined. [[[[[ | County | Population | Jobs since 2019 | Operating MW | Planned MW | Data centers | Local measures | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | Box Butte County | 10,494 | ▼ 0.7% | 9 MW | — | — | 1 | | Dawes County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/nebraska/dawes-county) | 7,858 | ▲ 1.5% | — | — | — | — | | Morrill County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/nebraska/morrill-county) | 4,404 | ▼ 1.8% | — | — | — | — | | Scotts Bluff County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/nebraska/scotts-bluff-county) | 35,586 | ▼ 2.3% | 16 MW | — | — | — | | Sheridan County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/nebraska/sheridan-county) | 4,809 | ▲ 2.8% | — | — | — | — | | Sioux County](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/nebraska/sioux-county) | 1,188 | ▲ 16.6% | — | — | — | — | ## More of Nebraska [All Nebraska countiesThe state power page and county mapOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/nebraska)[Scotts Bluff County35,586 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/nebraska/scotts-bluff-county)[Dawes County7,858 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/nebraska/dawes-county)[Sheridan County4,809 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/nebraska/sheridan-county)[Morrill County4,404 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/nebraska/morrill-county)[Sioux County1,188 peopleOpen →](https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/nebraska/sioux-county) ## Box Butte County, answered from the record ### Who provides electricity in Box Butte County, Nebraska? 7 utilities have service territory in Box Butte County in the EIA-861 2024 report: Nebraska Public Power District, City of Alliance- (NE), Chimney Rock Public Power Dist, Village of Hemingford - (NE). The largest, Nebraska Public Power District, charged residential customers 10.63¢/kWh on average in 2024. ### What power plants are in Box Butte County? 2 operating plants with 9 MW of capacity. The largest is Alliance Solar (8 MW, solar). ### Are there data centers in Box Butte County? The SAVRN Data Center Map has no data center in Box Butte County. ### Is Box Butte County adding jobs? Employers counted 3,726 jobs in 2025 against 3,754 in 2019 (-0.7%, BLS QCEW). Construction went from 135 to 139. ### Does Box Butte County have a data center moratorium? The SAVRN Moratorium Tracker holds 1 local measure for Box Butte County, 1 in force. --- Canonical: https://savrn.com/power-supply-chain-map/nebraska/box-butte-county Updated: 2026-10-08. Refreshed weekly by SAVRN from EIA, BLS, BEA, Census and the SAVRN trackers. License: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).