NV Energy hits mark for renewable generation

By Cy Ryan

Thursday, June 11, 2009 | 2 a.m.

For the first time, NV Energy has met the requirement for renewable energy production.

In 2008 the company generated more than 9 percent of its output from renewable sources.

The 2005 Legislature established the renewable requirement, but until last year the utility hadn’t hit the target.

Sean Sever, a spokesman for the Public Utilities Commission, said geothermal and solar sources accounted for most of the renewable energy produced. There are no commercial wind projects, and only a small amount of energy was generated from biomass — trash, trees, branches and yard clippings.

The utility company is allowed to transfer renewable credits between its Northern and Southern Nevada subsidiaries. Most of the state’s solar energy is produced in Southern Nevada and most of its geothermal energy is generated in Northern Nevada.

Sever said delays in building a solar plant in Las Vegas and a geothermal project in Northern Nevada kept the utilities from meeting the requirement earlier. The commission could have fined the utilities for failing to meet the requirement, but did not.

The 2005 law requires the power company to produce 20 percent of its output in renewables by 2015. The 2009 Legislature set the target at 25 percent by 2025.

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The more than 400,000 Nevadans who live in or govern homeowners associations have a lot of studying to do to catch up with new laws regulating the communities.

Gov. Jim Gibbons signed four bills related to homeowners associations.

Senate Bill 182, a 43-page measure, requires, among other things, that executive board meetings be open to the public and that public comment be allowed. It also requires contracts between boards and their attorneys to be open to the public, and makes it a felony to rig an election to a board and to accept kickbacks in the awarding of HOA contracts.

Sen. Mike Schneider, D-Las Vegas, who sponsored three of the four bills, said the legislation was proposed in response to activities that have come to light, including secret contracts and HOA board members “getting kickbacks.”

Senate Bill 183 provides that an HOA unit owner cannot be fined for a parking violation committed by a person delivering goods or providing a service to the owner. The bill also increases from two to three years the term for members of executive boards and prohibits unit owners from using a representative to cast their votes in a board election.

Senate Bill 68 clarifies that the cost of maintaining the outside walls of communities is the responsibility of homeowners associations. Schneider said the legislation was sought by the city of Henderson after an association allowed its outside walls to crack and fall over. Schneider said the association wanted the city to pay for the repairs.

Assembly Bill 350, sponsored by Assemblyman Harvey Munford, D-North Las Vegas, provides that punitive damages may not be awarded in lawsuits against members of an HOA’s executive board for acts or omissions in their official capacity. The bill also allows an association to charge the prime rate plus 2 percent on assessments that are in arrears 60 days or more.

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A state employee is suing to obtain the results of an investigation into an alleged hostile work environment at the state Taxation Department. Todd “Ty” Robben filed suit Tuesday against state Personnel Director Teresa Thienhaus on grounds that the 2007 investigation is public record.

District Judge Todd Russell on Wednesday ordered the state attorney general’s office to respond within 20 days.

Robben is seeking the report to support his testimony in a complaint before the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. In that complaint Robben alleges he was the victim of a hostile work environment. Several women in the department complained of similar treatment, he says.

In 2005 the state settled a separate harassment complaint brought by Robben while he was employed with the rural mental health clinics program. The state removed a reprimand from his personnel file. Robben filed a suit in federal court in 2002 claiming he was sexually harassed by a female co-worker.