Friday, July 20, 2001 | 11:49 a.m.
A hydroelectric plant proposed for the mountains near the Red Rock National Conservation Area is on indefinite hold, a staffer with Sen. Harry Reid's office said Thursday.
Nathan Naylor, Reid's press secretary, said the senator will keep legislation the plant's backers need "as an option," but will not move to pass the bill unless outstanding issues can be resolved.
The issues include the potential environmental impact of the plant on the surrounding area, the need for local approval and the OK for millions of gallons of water the plant will need to operate.
"Until we see those issues met, we don't see this issue going forward," Naylor said. "We are looking for renewable sources of power, but even with something renewable we still need to make sure it is the best use of our resources."
A spokeswoman for Blue Diamond Power Partners, the company that hopes to construct and operate the plant, said the issues can be resolved and will not affect the planned date for operation, tentatively scheduled the spring of 2002.
"It's all very doable stuff," said Kay Scherer. The company is discussing those issues and their resolution with local agencies and Reid's office, she said.
The company needs the legislation because its federal construction permit for the plant expired several weeks ago. An act of Congress is needed to extend the permit.
The company estimates that more than 391 million gallons of water will be needed, on a one-time basis, to power the plant.
The plant essentially would work as a giant battery. Operators would buy cheap electricity when demand is low, using that power to pump water to an upper water reservoir, one of two.
When electricity demand is high, such as a summer day in the Las Vegas Valley when thousands of air conditioners are operating, the water would flow downhill to the lower reservoir, powering turbines that produce electricity for resale.
The plant could provide enough power for about 200,000 homes during the summer months. Blue Diamond Power Partners' officials say this sort of "peaking" power facility can help avoid the short-term energy shortages that sparked the July 2 power blackouts in the Las Vegas Valley, which affected about 10,000 customers for 45 minutes.
Although company officials said the plant provides a clean source of power during high-demand periods, environmentalists have been sharply critical of the proposal.
They are concerned about the impact on the adjacent Red Rock National Conservation Area and the prospect of catastrophic flooding if either of the two dams in the project should fail. Sierra Club activists and others had urged denial of the local zoning approval when the issue came before Clark County commissioners in June.
But commissioners passed the issue on to the federal government.
County commissioners who favored the project said it did not have enough votes to win approval from the county board, and the commission's legal counsel, Rob Warhola, told the commissioners any federal action would supersede local zoning rules anyway.
Nonetheless, Clark County Commission Chairman Dario Herrera is asking the federal government to apply some local development standards to the project.
In a letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission last week, the federal agency that oversees such power plant construction, Herrera asked for several conditions. These include:
* Paving of roads to and through the facility to control dust emissions.
* Constructing walls, light sources and other infrastructure so that they blend in with the rocky terrain surrounding the project.
* Replanting native vegetation within 90 days after construction is completed.
Celeste Miller, a FERC spokeswoman, said her agency can impose conditions on a construction permit and will review Herrera's request.
However, if a law is signed in Washington that extends the construction deadline, the FERC doesn't have to do anything, and the company could immediately move forward to build the plant, although it couldn't operate without water.
"Once the legislation is passed, the commission doesn't have to act on that," Miller said. "That's final."
Environmentalists said they will not be satisfied with those conditions.
"This thing doesn't belong up there," said Peggy Pierce, co-chairwoman of the conservation committee of the local arm of the Sierra Club. "It's a bad idea all around.
"Landscaping? Oh, brother," she said. Scherer, the company spokeswoman, said Herrera's conditions are not an obstacle to the construction.
She said the company had anticipated that the county commission would have imposed similar conditions before approving the local land use permit and was disappointed that the county board did not approve the project -- even if that approval isn't needed for construction.
The plant would be on the southern edge of the Red Rock area but not visible from parts of Red Rock frequented by visitors. It would be about 4 miles west of Hualapai Road.
Reed Noble, principal with St. George, Utah-based Creamer and Noble Engineers, said the issues can be overcome. The engineering company is partnered with Japan-based Mitsubishi Corp. to build the plant.
"We are aware of the concerns ... and are working to resolve those issues," he said.
Blue Diamond Power Partners is "actively involved in preparing an application" with the Las Vegas Valley Water District for the needed water, Noble said.
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