by Dana Gentry, Nevada Current
Last-minute legislation designed to provide reliability and price stability to NV Energy’s customers passed the Senate Monday after passing the Assembly unanimously on Saturday.
Assembly Bill 524 was originally proposed by NV Energy to expand its renewable energy production in the state and avoid costly purchases on the volatile open market. But at a hearing last week, NV Energy executive Tony Sanchez said the measure doesn’t “go far enough” to secure an adequate supply of electricity.
The utility is seeking to build new generating stations and battery storage systems and profit from their construction, which would be funded at least in part, by ratepayers.
But Assemblyman Howard Watts, the bill’s sponsor, instead emphasized in the legislation the need for NV Energy to more diligently plan for its energy needs through a process called integrated resource planning (IRP). AB 524 allows the utility to update its IRP more frequently than the three years stipulated under current law, and ensures unplanned requests for “emergency” supply needs will undergo regulatory scrutiny from the Public Utilities Commission.
An amendment designed to regain support from NV Energy provides a “significant share of the renewable energy facilities and energy storage systems included in the scenario (to fill the utility’s open market position) must be owned by the utility.”
What constitutes a ‘significant share’ will be determined by the PUC’s rulemaking process, Watts says.
“I think there are different perspectives on what constitutes ‘significant’ and those will come from NV Energy and others as part of the IRP process,” Watts said via email Monday, the final day of the 2023 legislative session. “And even with this amendment, that process remains preserved. The ownership is required in this scenario but not in any decision.”
The bill also requires that the utility seek to mitigate the cost of implementing the plan “for the benefit of customers to the extent possible” by taking advantage of federal funding and incentives available to “utilities or third parties for the development of electric resources.”
It also requires benefits from jobs, job training, and apprenticeships be included in projects, whether facilities are constructed by NV Energy or a third-party developer.
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