(1) Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, an application by a municipality, a registered group of municipalities, a public power district, a public power and irrigation district, an electric cooperative, an electric membership association, or any other governmental entity, for a facility that will generate not more than ten thousand kilowatts of electric energy at rated capacity and will generate electricity using solar, wind, biomass, landfill gas, methane gas, or hydropower generation technology or an emerging generation technology, including, but not limited to, fuel cells and micro-turbines, shall be deemed a special generation application. Such application shall be approved by the board if the board finds that (a) the application qualifies as a special generation application, (b) the application will provide public benefits sufficient to warrant approval of the application, although it may not constitute the most economically feasible generation option, and (c) the application under consideration represents a separate and distinct project from any previous special generation application the applicant may have filed.

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(2)(a) An application by a municipality, a registered group of municipalities, a public power district, a public power and irrigation district, an electric cooperative, an electric membership association, or any other governmental entity for a facility that will generate more than ten thousand kilowatts of electric energy at rated capacity and will generate electricity using renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, biomass, landfill gas, methane gas, or new hydropower generation technology or an emerging technology, including, but not limited to, fuel cells and micro-turbines, may be filed with the board if (i) the total production from all such renewable projects, excluding sales from such projects to other electric-generating entities, does not exceed ten percent of total energy sales as shown in the producer’s Annual Electric Power Industry Report to the United States Department of Energy and (ii) the applicant’s governing body conducts at least one advertised public hearing which affords the ratepayers of the applicant a chance to review and comment on the subject of the application.

(b) The application filed under subdivision (2)(a) of this section shall be approved by the board if the board finds that (i) the applicant is using renewable energy sources described in this subsection, (ii) total production from all renewable projects of the applicant does not exceed ten percent of the producer’s total energy sales as described in subdivision (2)(a) of this section, and (iii) the applicant’s governing body has conducted at least one advertised public hearing which affords its ratepayers a chance to review and comment on the subject of the application.

(3)(a) A community-based energy development project organized pursuant to the Rural Community-Based Energy Development Act or any privately developed project which intends to develop renewable energy sources for sale to one or more Nebraska electric utilities described in this section may also make an application to the board pursuant to this subsection if (i) the purchasing electric utilities conduct a public hearing described in subdivision (2)(a) of this section, (ii) the power and energy from the renewable energy sources is sold exclusively to such electric utilities for a term of at least twenty years, and (iii) the total production from all such renewable projects, excluding sales from such projects to other electric-generation entities, does not exceed ten percent of total energy sales of such purchasing electric utilities as shown in such utilities’ Annual Electric Power Industry Report to the United States Department of Energy or the successor to such report.

(b) The application filed under subdivision (3)(a) of this section shall be approved by the board if the board finds that the purchasing electric utilities have met the conditions described in subdivision (3)(a) of this section.

(4) No facility or part of a facility which is approved pursuant to this section is subject to eminent domain by any electric supplier, or by any other entity if the purpose of the eminent domain proceeding is to acquire the facility for electric generation or transmission.

(5) A privately developed renewable energy generation facility is exempt from this section if it complies with section 70-1014.02.