Nevada energy policy panel set to make recommendations

Friday, Dec. 15, 2000 | 11:04 a.m.

The 17-member committee that is making energy policy recommendations to Gov. Kenny Guinn agreed on its first two proposals Thursday.

The Nevada Electric Energy Policy Committee completed work on two non-controversial recommendations, leaving the group's heavy lifting for after the holidays.

The panel, meeting in a teleconference in Las Vegas and Carson City, approved proposals on renewable energy and on the establishment of a long-term energy policy committee to advise the governor.

Still on the horizon: at least six recommendations on issues ranging from taxation to establishing a timetable for the start-up of a deregulated electric utility industry.

The deregulation issue has taken much of the committee's time, as representatives on both sides of the controversy have testified about the merits of starting or stalling a competitive marketplace for power in the state.

Big power users, like mines and casinos, have advocated a quick start to a competitive market because, as large users, they would be able to negotiate directly with the company that would give them the best deal.

Meanwhile, residential consumers, nervous about what skyrocketing natural gas and electricity prices are doing in Nevada and California, have encouraged the committee to take a closer look at what deregulation would do to them. Several have testified that they don't want Nevada to take a step that might be beneficial to large users at the expense of residential customers.

The Nevada Legislature has promised to study the issue closely in its upcoming session. Two lawmakers who serve on the committee didn't vote on the recommendations Thursday.

Sen. Randy Townsend, R-Reno, told committee Chairwoman JoAnn Kelly that he wanted to review the dozens of reports the committee has received -- some of them that day -- before making decisions on recommendations. Kelly, in Las Vegas, told Townsend, in Carson City, that many of the issues under consideration had already been in the hands of the committee for several weeks.

When the majority of the committee agreed to go ahead and vote, Townsend left the meeting. He said lawmakers would be reviewing all aspects of the committee recommendations in the upcoming legislative session anyway.

The other legislator on the committee, Assemblyman Richard Perkins, D-Henderson, wasn't present at Thursday's meeting.

The recommendation on renewable energy encouraged the state to establish policies on wind, solar and geothermal resources. It suggested that a standing committee, also recommended by the board, oversee the renewable policy. It also suggested that the governor work with the state's congressional delegation in Washington to extend tax credits for power generated by wind and to extend tax credits for solar and geothermal resources.

The panel also recommended that the federal Department of Energy be encouraged to bring a renewable energy model to the state, possibly to the Nevada Test Site, and that a natural gas pipeline be built to the area to foster renewable development.

The other recommendation involved the establishment of a permanent energy policy committee to advise the governor. The panel suggested that all electricity, gas and water utilities issue a report to the governor every two years, six months before each legislative session, outlining two-, five- and 10-year forecasts of loads and resources.

The committee ultimately agreed that the committee should be comprised of citizen delegates instead of an executive committee. Some panelists were reticent to recommend a new government committee and were concerned that some of its efforts would be duplicated by the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada.

Because the committee acted on only two of an expected eight recommendations at Thursday's meeting, it may schedule additional sessions in January to meet a mid-January deadline imposed by Guinn.

Kelly said she and some other committee members would be working in the next two weeks to develop draft recommendations from some of the volumes of testimony the committee has received since it began meeting in November.