Mohave plant sale halted

Thursday, March 29, 2001 | 10:48 a.m.

The Public Utilities Commission of Nevada today approved an order stopping the sale of Nevada Power Co.'s 14 percent share of the Mohave Generating Station to a Virginia company.

Commissioners unanimously approved a motion from the state consumer advocate's office to set aside a PUC order approved in October allowing the $123 million sale of Nevada Power's interest to AES Corp., Arlington, Va.

Southern California Edison owns a 56 percent share of the Mohave plant that AES also was attempting to buy. The City of Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and Salt River Project, Phoenix, own the other 30 percent, which are not part of the proposed sale.

In his motion, Consumer Advocate Tim Hay said "there has been a signficant change in circumstances which has led Nevada policymakers to reconsider whether divestiture of Nevada's generation assets remains an appropriate public policy."

Hay cited Nevada's pending legislation as well as actions by California lawmakers and regulators blocking Southern California Edison's Mohave sale as reasons to reopen the case.

"(Nevada Power's) divestiture of its interest in the Mohave plant could impair the reliability of the electric supply of the state of Nevada, given the current electric crisis in the western United States as a result of the California 'debacle,' financial instability of Nevada Power, drought in the Pacific Northwest and inadequate supply of natural gas," the commission's order says.