December 20, 2024
CARSON CITY, Nev. – The Public Utilities Commission of Nevada today approved, in large part, NV Energy’s 2025-2027 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP), including 400 megawatts of new methane gas units and one of the weakest transportation electrification plans in the region.
While NV Energy did include 1,029 megawatts of clean, low-cost solar power, coupled with battery storage, Western Resource Advocates argued that the Commission should not approve the company’s request for new gas units until it has fairly compared and vetted all potential resources. WRA also highlighted how NV Energy is backsliding on its carbon emissions reduction projections.
The two new methane gas units approved in this IRP will be located at the North Valmy Generating Station, where two existing coal plants are already set to be converted to gas – a change approved by the Commission just last year. The increased reliance on price-volatile methane gas instead of renewables pushes more financial risk onto customers as power bills become increasingly subject to fuel price spikes.
The investments identified in the IRP have major consequences, determining how much of our power comes from clean or polluting sources – the cost of which will be passed on to Nevada families and businesses via their electric bills.
Nevada's IRP and resource procurement processes are fundamentally flawed, resulting in more reliance on gas turbines that do not best serve Nevadans. NV Energy has taken advantage of the state’s inadequate process, limiting the Commission’s options to meet soaring load growth and increasing reliance on fossil fuel. Without substantial reform in the near future, NV Energy will fail to meet necessary emissions reduction targets to stave off the worst impacts of climate change.
WRA also urged the Commission to strengthen the company’s transportation electrification plan (TEP), as the proposed plan was so weak that it fell fall short of the statutory requirement to “accelerate transportation,” laid out in Senate Bill 448, passed in 2021.
A robust TEP would include incentives for and investments in charging infrastructure, with extra emphasis on historically underserved communities and low-income customers. Instead, the utility’s meager TEP budgets only $14.8 million to transportation electrification over three years, an investment that pales in comparison to neighboring utilities across the region and significantly underfunds the critical infrastructure needed to support meaningful electric vehicle adoption in Nevada.
Utilities can provide crucial support to spur electric vehicle adoption, but only if their plans are substantial, equitable and well-designed. NV Energy's transportation electrification plan again takes advantage of the overly flexible language set in statute, leaving its customers without programs to help them transition to electric vehicles and access charging. NV Energy's plan keeps Nevadans stuck in neutral, setting them up for a future that's reliant on expensive and polluting gas-powered vehicles.
Media Contact:
Christie Silverstein | christie.silverstein@westernresources.org | 602.803.4130
