Summit attendees see hope for clean, renewable energy

Thursday, March 7, 2002 | 9:24 a.m.

FALLON -- Nevada could be on the cusp of important development of renewable, environmentally friendly energy, private-sector executives and federal, state and local government officials said Wednesday at the Nevada Land-Use Summit.

Potential and existing energy producers include geothermal, wind, solar and bio-mass-based electricity generators, speakers at the summit said.

Carl Linvill, energy adviser to Gov. Kenny Guinn and director of the State Energy Office, said the renewable energy sources aren't important simply because they don't produce air pollution, as do traditional coal and natural gas-powered generators.

The renewable sources also can provide power at stable prices, an important asset as natural gas prices wildly fluctuate. Natural gas provides most of Nevada's power, and escalating prices last year contributed to an energy crisis in the West and a $900 million rate increase requested by Nevada Power.

"We had a very wild ride on natural gas last year, and we'll probably have another one," Linvill warned. He said a glut of new gas-fired power plants planned for Nevada and the West could lead to future natural gas shortages and higher prices.

But in contrast to natural gas, geothermal and wind-powered generating plants provide stable prices over decades of operation. The plants essentially require no additional fuel, so their main cost is the capital to build them.

Following his address to the land-use summit, Linvill said in an interview that a law passed by the Legislature last year has provided impetus for the development of renewable energy in the state. The law requires Sierra Pacific, the state's energy provider with local subsidiary Nevada Power, to get 15 percent of its wholesale power from renewable sources by 2013.

Linvill said the company appears to be on track to have 5 percent of its power provided by renewables by 2003.

He said federal legislation sponsored by Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., the majority whip, also could spur "green" energy development. The legislation would give a 2 cent per kilowatt-hour tax credit for renewable energy. With the credit, geothermal energy would be cheaper than electricity from natural gas-fired plants, Linvill said.

Federal officials agreed that the time is right for renewable energy development, including power from planned "wind-farms" of turbines planned in Clark and Nye counties.

The state legislation "will drive it," said Larry Flowers, president of the federal National Renewable Energy Laboratory, a 24-year-old agency devoted to alternative energy development. "It forces the system to develop renewables as a competitive resource."

Robert Abbey, state director of the Bureau of Land Management, told participants at the land-use summit to expect more proposals for wind farms and other forms of renewable energy. The agency is now evaluating proposals for eight new wind farms on BLM land in Nevada, he said.

The agency already has approved land leases for 132 geothermal projects, Abbey said. Another 150 are pending. Nine operating plants provide 165 megawatts of clean, steady power, enough electricity for about 165,000 homes in northern Nevada.

Geothermal generators take heat from the earth's interior and converts that energy into electricity. It is mostly developed in the north part of the state.

One of those eyeing the potential for renewable energy in Nevada is Dave Warren, an executive with Olympia, Wash.-based Last Mile Electric Cooperative.

He said his nonprofit utility, which includes member agencies in Nevada and California, is testing the feasibility of wind power at several sites in Nevada.

"We hope to develop a wind project down here in the very near future," Warren said.