Entrepreneurs who dream of building small-scale wind, solar, methane or other renewable energy projects could sell their power to the Nebraska Public Power District.

The Columbus-based utility is interested in receiving request for proposals for projects of fewer than 10 megawatts that meet Public Utility Regulatory Policy Act guidelines.

Wind, solar, biomass, specific types of hydroelectricity - as well as co-generation and generation from waste heat recovery systems - would qualify as PURPA projects, said NPPD engineer Frank Thompson, who is in charge of the new program.

"It could be a corporation or it could be a mom-and-pop operation," he said.

The RFP calls for the generating facility or facilities to be operational on or before Dec. 1, 2010.

"The purpose of this new RFP is to provide an opportunity for the development of small renewable energy resources from potential developers who would like to sell power to a utility," Thompson said. "It is also part of our goal of having 10 percent of our energy coming from renewable resources by 2020."

Builders would have to use their own money, Thompson said. But they might be able to obtain a grant, along with technical assistance, from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, he said.

NPPD plans to review each proposal for its environmental attributes, generation capacity and pricing. The utility would buy the electricity under a power purchase agreement.

Thompson said the small-scale renewable energy program was spurred by people who, over the years, contacted NPPD about selling some of their energy output if they built something.

"We just thought that the (RFP) process we had for large wind projects worked well, so why not use it for small renewables," Thompson said.

He encouraged interested parties to talk to their local utilities first because they have the opportunity under PURPA guidelines to buy up to 2 megawatts of power from such projects. (One megawatt can meet the electricity needs of about 550 homes for a year.)

In recent years, NPPD has requested proposals for large-scale energy projects, such as the Elkhorn Ridge Wind Farm near Bloomfield.

NPPD spokesman Mark Becker said corporations that did not have the financial resources to build projects like Elkhorn Ridge might be interested now.

"We know there are a half-dozen folks who have specific projects in mind," said Thompson.