CRC OKs utility deal

Kevin Rademacher

Wednesday, March 9, 2005 | 10:47 a.m.

The "cooperative accord" between Nevada Power Co. and the Southern Nevada Water Authority received its third approval on Tuesday when the board of the Colorado River Commission unanimously approved the preliminary documents.

Approval came quickly and without comment, except for Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman's restating the objections he originally voiced last month when the SNWA board approved the same accord.

"This type of negotiations will not take place in the future," Goodman said of the secretive nature that shrouded the monthslong series of meetings that took place between Nevada Power, SNWA and CRC officials.

Clark County Commission Chairman Rory Reid has been given much of the credit for shepherding the parties through to an agreement. Goodman on Tuesday also acknowledged those efforts.

"(Last month) I did not give sufficient credit to Commissioner Rory Reid," Goodman said during Tuesday's meeting.

The agreement settles a series of lawsuit and regulatory actions between Nevada Power, SNWA and CRC. Many of those battles began amid the fallout of the 2000-01 Western energy crisis and included a $3.2 billion bid the water authority made to buy the power company.

Officials involved in establishing the accord have emphasized that the deal merely establishes an outline for formal agreements that will be brought before the SNWA and CRC boards for final approval.

In addition to mandating executive meetings and settling litigation, other elements of the deal would increase the cooperative dealings between the organizations, including quarterly meetings between executives and strategic partnerships to maximize utility resources.

Also part of the deal, Nevada Power will operate SNWA's 25 percent ownership stake in the Silverhawk power plant north of Las Vegas. The eight-year deal will give the electric company more control over power generation resources. The Water Authority, in return, will get 75 megawatts of firm power resources from the utility.

Additionally, Nevada Power also will provide scheduling and balancing services for SNWA, assuring that there is sufficient power coming into the local grid in order to meet demand. That service is currently contracted to a New Mexico utility.

Some of the specific agreements, such as power plant operations, also will likely need the approval of the state Public Utilities Commission.

George Caan, executive director of the CRC, and Michael Yackira, chief financial officer of Sierra Pacific Resources, parent company of Nevada Power, said those subsequent agreements are in the works.