Plans for wind power are raising a storm

Friday, Aug. 10, 2001 | 11:29 a.m.

Local power companies can't make a deal to buy electricity from a proposed wind farm until the state issues definitive rules, officials say.

MNS, a conglomeration that includes Global Renewable Energy Partnership and German electronics giant Siemens, has plans to build two wind farms -- at the Nevada Test Site and at Table Mountain south of Las Vegas, MNS consultant Tim Carlson said. The wind turbines could generate enough electricity to power 130,000 Las Vegas homes during a typical summer month.

Each turbine -- there will be about 230 -- could cost from $750,000 to $1.25 million to install, depending on how many roads are needed and how many environmental issues must be addressed, he said.

"They're putting a lot of money in the ground," Carlson said of the wind company.

MNS will be ready to sell power when the first turbines are operating, possibly by the end of next year, he said.

Problem is, the company is threatening to sell to California the electricity it generates in Nevada.

A new law passed by the Legislature this year requires that 5 percent of electricity sold to its customers be produced from wind, solar or other renewable energy sources. The law goes into effect in 2003.

But there are no rules to guide the utility, Barbara Allen, Nevada Power's resource planning and forecasting manager, said Thursday.

The state Public Utilities Commission this fall is expected to adopt rules defining the process in which utilities can buy 5 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2003.

The PUC must first approve Nevada Power's utilities resource plan, Allen said. The resource plan is a document used to forecast Nevada's future power needs.

A hearing to determine how much energy the company needs to buy from power generators is slated Sept. 5, Allen said. "Then we can get the ball rolling," she said.

The law is not clear on the amount of electricity Sierra Pacific and Nevada Power has to buy from renewable resources in Nevada, Allen said. "I'm going to buy some renewables, but it is not clear if it has to be homegrown or not," she said.

If Nevada Power doesn't buy electricity generated by the wind farm, Carlson said, the company plans to sell all of its power to California.

Carlson intimated that, within weeks, an energy consultant to California's Gov. Gray Davis could be ready to enter into a memorandum of understanding regarding the purchase of wind power.

Nevertheless, Carlson said, MNS remains interested in selling power in Nevada, Carlson said. "We don't want to sell the power to California," he said. "But it is a business issue."

Said Nevada Power spokeswoman Sonya Headen, "It seems as if the company is trying to negotiate a contract in the media. Right now, we can't go forward. Our hands are tied."