NV Energy has filed its state mandated 2016 Renewable Portfolio Standard Annual Report with the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada, showing that the company achieved a 22.2 percent renewable credit level in southern Nevada and 26.6 percent level in northern Nevada. This is the seventh year in a row that NV Energy has exceeded the state’s renewable energy mandate. The 2016 legislated requirement is 20 percent, based on total retail energy sales. The company also announced that its customers now benefit from 43 separate renewable energy projects in Nevada, with four more universal solar projects that are in the development or construction phase.
With the recent shutdown of the coal-fueled Reid Gardner Generating Station, coal is now only used for approximately 6 percent of NV Energy’s generation, with the majority of energy coming from Nevada-based natural gas power plants. The company is continuing to cut back on coal-fueled generating, while increasing its renewable energy portfolio without raising rates. Customer rates today are at levels similar to rates in 2007. A 2016 year-end comparison done by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, recently reported that Nevada’s average retail price for all customers was 10 percent lower than the Mountain states, 18 percent lower than the U.S. average, and 45 percent lower than electricity users in California.
The majority of NV Energy’s renewable energy portfolio credits comes from geothermal resources, but solar resources now represent nearly a third of the total renewable energy resources. Today NV Energy customers are served by 19 geothermal energy plants, 14 universal-scale solar fields, six hydro projects, five biomass or methane projects and one wind farm. In total, these projects represent more than 1,460 megawatts of nameplate renewable energy capacity. If all were operating at the same time they would generate enough energy to serve more than 875,000 typical homes in Nevada.
Four large-scale solar projects from previously awarded long-term contracts are in the development or construction phase. They include the 100-megawatt Switch Station 1 and the 79-megawatt Switch Station 2, both are located north of Las Vegas are slated to be operational in 2017. The 100-megawatt Techren Solar Energy Project in Boulder City is in the construction stage and expected to be operational in 2018, and the 200-megawatt Techren Solar Energy Project 2 is pending regulatory approval.
NV Energy, Inc., provides a wide range of energy services to 1.3 million customers throughout Nevada and more than 40 million tourists annually. NV Energy is a holding company whose principal subsidiaries, Nevada Power Company and Sierra Pacific Power Company, do business as NV Energy. NV Energy is headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada. Information about NV Energy is available on the company’s website, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube pages, which can be accessed via nvenergy.com.
Source:PRN
