There are several small electric utilities in Nevada, but for the state to meet its Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) goal of 50 percent from renewable sources by 2030, Nevada’s largest utility has to be an integral participant in the transition to lower-carbon emission energy sources.
NV Energy currently serves 1.5 million electricity customers in Nevada with some 2,400 employees. They also provide natural gas service to roughly 175,000 consumers in the Reno/Sparks area.
On Tuesday February 23, NV Energy CEO Doug Cannon gave a presentation to the Nevada Assembly Committee on Growth and Infrastructure. In the wake of the devastating failure of the power grid in Texas, Cannon told lawmakers why a similar failure isn’t likely to happen in Nevada. He also gave an update on efforts to meet the state’s RPS goals and the Greenlink Nevada energy transmission project, and more – listen:
See music credits below.
“Right now we have 56 utility scale, renewable energy projects throughout the state. Those are geothermal projects. Those are solar projects. We have a wind project. We have some small hydro projects, but it’s a broad portfolio of renewable energy projects,” Cannon said. “Right now. We’re serving our customers with just under 30 percent renewable energy. So, you know, I think a lot of folks probably don’t recognize that, but 30 percent of the energy they receive every single day is renewable. And we are on track to achieve a 50 percent renewable portfolio standard by 2030, as was proposed by the legislature in this last session, and we are certainly focused on driving even more renewables.
“We have an aspirational goal of someday serving our customers with 100 percent renewable. We need to do that in a thoughtful and deliberate way. But we do believe it’s a goal that can be achieved at the right time.”
“We have more than 40,000 roof-top solar systems on our system now, that provide energy to the grid, that we work with those homeowners and compensate them for the energy that they provide the grid,” Cannon said. “Right now, those homeowners are providing more than 500 Megawatts of energy to our system. That’s equivalent to one of the really big power plants that you see as you’re driving through Apex or if you drive down I-80 and you go past our Tracy power plant in Innovation Park,” said Cannon. “That 500 megawatts is equivalent to some of the size of those power plants, so that’s a significant amount of energy.”
Music credits as reported to the Public Radio Exchange, in order of appearance:
Song: Open Me Slowly
Artist: Rena Jones
Album: Driftwood
Label: Cartesian Binary Recordings
Date: 2006
Duration: 3:46
Song: Alright
Artist: Tyco
Album: Simulcast
Label: Mom + Pop
Date: 2020
Duration: 2:07
Song: Driftwood
Artist: Rena Jones
Album: Driftwood
Label: Cartesian Binary Recordings
Date: 2006
Duration: 3:46
Song: Cypress
Artist: Tyco
Album: Simulcast
Label: Mom + Pop
Date: 2020
Duration: 4:07
Song: Just a Metaphor
Artist: Rhythmphoria
Album: Just a Metaphor
Label: Nidra Music
Date: 2020
Duration: 1:52
