‘Green’ energy boom may hit Boulder City

Greg Harman

Tuesday, June 13, 2000 | 11:18 a.m.

After years of botched attempts to open a solar energy park in the Eldorado Valley, Boulder City officials have entered new discussions to bring the alternative power industry to town.

A tenuous alliance forged between the Nevada Test Site Development Corp. and Boulder City -- expected to be finalized tonight -- could spark a "green" energy boom in the vast dry lake bed along U.S. 95, supplying Southern Nevada, Arizona and Southern California with nonpolluting power.

But chances are good that the valley may see a second gas-fired power plant in Boulder City's "green technology park" long before solar collecting plates ever begin harnessing the sun's rays for the region's growing energy demand.

El Dorado Energy -- originally opposed by more than 1,000 Boulder City residents concerned about air quality issues -- opened negotiations with Boulder City last month about opening a second 480-megawatt natural gas power plant. The company's first 480-megawatt plant went online last month.

"We're still in the early stages of development," of a second plant, said Art Larson, a spokesman for Sempra Energy, a partner in the plant.

The valley also is a prime location for solar and wind power generation, Tim Carlson, president of NTS Development Corp., said.

Carlson's vision of a high-tech valley of solar and wind plants selling clean energy in a freshly deregulated market has attracted interest. But before solid negotiations may begin, the nonprofit agency must secure a lease agreement with Boulder City. "We're capable of bringing in the best in the world. Once we get them here we want to keep them here," he said.

Though hesitant to name names, Carlson said the companies contacted about moving to Boulder City are all expected to attend the NTS Development Corp.'s second annual GlobeEx 2000 sustainable energy conference and trade show in Las Vegas this summer.

Enticed by the possibilities outlined by Carlson last month, the Boulder City Council unanimously approved a memorandum of understanding with the NTS Development Corp. -- against the advice of City Manager John Sullard.

Sullard, noting it was the company's first appearance before the council, asked for two weeks to better flesh out the potential benefits of the agreement and give the city attorney time to peruse the legal language.

"What they were bringing to the table was not clear," Sullard said last week. "I don't have a problem with getting someone started, but I don't want to tie up large amounts of land."

The memorandum of understanding, due to get a final vote tonight, requires Boulder City to work out a lease agreement with the Test Site company within 60 days. Recent discussion have restricted the amount of land to be tied up in the deal to 300 acres.

"What I don't want to have is something half done," Sullard said. "Somebody's dream and idea that didn't take off is somebody else's eyesore."

But Carlson's May sales pitch couldn't have been clearer: Without a 36-month commitment provided by a memorandum of understanding, there would be no second chance for the city.

"We've got two other sites we're seriously considering," Carlson said. "We've got to get moving. We've got customers that need to be serviced."

In fact, Nye County commissioners are working hard to draw the interest of the Test Site Development Corp. -- created in 1996 to replace 7,000 jobs lost when nuclear weapons testing ended -- back to a proposed industrial park near Mercury.

"We are doing our best to try to resurrect this thing ... to make it work," Nye County Commissioner Jeff Taguchi said.

But for now, Eldorado Valley is Carlson's draft choice.

"Those community people have built clean energy before. They're real sensitive to that," he said. "Think of it as a high-tech addition to Hoover Dam."

Test Site Development Corp. Vice President George Ormiston said he met with representatives of three companies -- two domestic, one international -- recently. Though he would not divulge their identities, one source familiar with the discussion said that representatives from Siemans and Duke Energy, both of which are participating in GlobeEx 2000, met with NTS Development staff just over a week ago.

Others expected to attend GlobeEx 2000 include Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Texaco, National Hydrogen Association, Pacific Northwest Laboratory, ABB PowerPlant Technologies and the Solar Electric Light Fund.

But an echoing non-commitment to green power from El Dorado Energy may bode ill for the project.

The company, a partnership of Reliant Energy and Sempra Energy that entered Nevada to capitalize on pending deregulation of the electric utility market, wasn't interested the last time green energy was at the door.

Boulder City had just expanded its borders by 66 square miles in a 1995 purchase of U.S. Bureau of Land Management property. An 85,000-acre desert tortoise preserve was established, and 2,500 acres were set aside as an "Energy Resource Area" dedicated to the cultivation of solar energy.

Four years ago the Corporation for Solar Technology and Renewable Resources, led by Sen. Richard Bryan, D-Nev., and the Test Site Development Corp., championed by Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., were working together to start a solar park. But the group was unable to secure funding or interest, said Rose McKinney-James, former president and CEO of the solar technology corporation.

At the same time El Dorado Energy was anxious to set up a power plant but strongly resisted the solar technology group's overtures to get involved in the green energy project.

"We did not have a commitment on the part of El Dorado Energy to support it," McKinney-James said. "They were reluctant to include any solar in their plant. ... They were very comfortable as a gas utility. But they didn't know enough about solar at that time."

Test Site Corp. officials say they have again approached El Dorado Energy and received a non-committal reply.

But El Dorado was dragged into at least learning about solar energy, thanks to concessions McKinney-James negotiated to overcome original objections to the power company.

El Dorado got the task of creating the infrastructure for future potential solar interests. It also built its own 100-watt solar project to provide in-house DC power for the plant.

But two recent developments may allow the Test Site Development Corp. to succeed.

The deregulation of the power industry and an attempt to create a 6,500-acre airport on BLM land in Ivanpah Valley, close to the city's energy park, make the concept of a green energy park more feasible.

Nevada utilities are being mandated to "buy green" for the first time in the state's history.

A renewable energy standard adopted by the state in 1997 requires power companies to purchase at least 1 percent of their electricity from alternative sources by 2009. Half of that must be from solar plants in Nevada, said Bob Cooper, a senior regulatory analyst with the Nevada Attorney General's Office.

"The goal was to create jobs in Nevada and bring green energy to Nevada," Cooper said.

While deregulation of power in Nevada has been slower than expected, Carlson said deregulation in California has already occurred, and that's the key.

"Most of our energy will be sold in the L.A. area and they've already opened the market there," Carlson said.

Meanwhile the proposed Ivanpah Airport could open as soon as 2010, enabling potential Eldorado Valley tenants easy access to transportation from their plants.

Reid's airport effort was approved by the House of Representatives in March but has stalled on the Senate side.

But it was a conversation with Uwe Rockenfeller, president and CEO of Boulder City-based Rocky Research, that swayed Mayor Bob Ferraro to back the Test Site Development Corp.'s proposal.

Rockenfeller is an impassioned advocate of renewable energy whose vision of Eldorado Valley is closer to a modern day World's Fair than a business park.

He sees Hoover Dam and Las Vegas Strip tourists riding buses to the high-tech attraction, a demonstration hall packed with unusual gadgets intended to titillate the masses.

Both Rockenfeller and Sullard suggest that the as-yet ethereal green energy valley may do more for the region than it could for Boulder City directly.

"Everybody wants to ultimately be in a profitable system. But you have to endure to get there," Rockenfeller said.

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