NV Energy is dedicated to powering what’s important to our more than 1.4 million customers and state tourist population of nearly 50 million annually in an environmentally sustainable and cost effective manner. We are leading the way in reducing emissions by changing our generating portfolio and developing more renewable energy, all while continuing our commitment to low rates. In fact, arecent study by S&P Global Market Intelligence showed average electricity prices in Nevada decreased by 14.5 percent over the last decade – more than any other state in the country.
Coal-fired electricity generation is officially a thing of the past in Southern Nevada with the recent closure of the Navajo Generating Station located on the Navajo Nation near Page, Ariz. NV Energy is a partial owner of the power plant, and has been planning to exit its ownership at the end of 2019 as part of its plan to fully eliminate coal generation in southern Nevada. We began retiring our coal plants in 2005 with the closure of the Mohave Generating Station, and fully retired the Reid Gardner Generating Station in 2017, our only coal plant in Southern Nevada. We began retiring our coal plants in 2005 with the closure of the Mohave Generating Station, and fully retired the Reid Gardner Generating Station in 2017, our only coal plant in Southern Nevada.
Moves like this coupled with an expanding renewable energy portfolio have helped our state experience an 85 percent reduction in coal-fueled carbon emissions from 2005 to 2015. During that same period, Nevada reduced carbon emissions from the electric industry by 44 percent.
Now, we’re hard at work increasing the amount of renewable resources in our portfolio, and continue toward a long-term goal of serving our customers with 100 percent renewable energy. In December, the Public Utilities Commission Nevada approved our plans to add 1,190 megawatts of new solar energy (enough to power 230,000 homes) and nearly 600 megawatts of energy storage systems. This is in addition to six solar projects totaling 1,001 megawatts and 100 megawatts of energy storage projects that were approved in 2018. These projects represent an investment of more than $2 billion dollars in our state’s economy and will create nearly 5,000 construction period jobs using union labor. By making these investments and diversifying our electricity generation portfolio, the costs to serve our customers continue to decrease.
In April, Senate Bill 358 was signed into law by Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak requiring Nevada energy providers to achieve a 50 percent renewable energy portfolio standard by 2030 – a change that NV Energy fully supported and is one step closer to satisfying with these new projects.
NV Energy has fostered renewable development since before a renewable standard was put into place, having signed its first renewable power purchase agreement in the 1980s. The company has since prided itself on making renewable energy development a priority, and exceeded the state’s current renewable energy requirement for the ninth straight year in 2018.
We are also proud to offer resources and information to assist our business customers in meeting their own sustainability goals. These include incentives to help offset the cost of installing energy efficient equipment, energy storage systems and electric vehicle charging infrastructure. Electric vehicle incentives include workplace charging incentives for employers, multi-family home charging station incentives, fleet electrification, and public charging incentives.
For more information on our advancements in renewable energy and available incentives, visit nvenergy.com/cleanenergy.
Breanna Bensoua