Obama here for the sunshine

By David McGrath Schwartz, Michael Mishak

Thursday, May 28, 2009 | 2 a.m.

Some people visit Las Vegas for the sights. Others, for the sounds.

But Wednesday, President Barack Obama said he came here for the sun, touring a solar array at Nellis Air Force Base, the largest facility of its kind in the Western Hemisphere.

He used the opportunity to highlight the first 100 days of his economic stimulus package. Speaking to about 400 military and civilian personnel in a hangar at the base, in North Las Vegas, Obama said the solar plant “serves as a shining example of what’s possible when we harness the power of clean, renewable energy to build a new, firmer foundation for economic growth.”

The plant provides 25 percent of the military base’s electricity, the equivalent of powering about 13,200 homes on any given day. The project created 200 jobs, saves the U.S. government nearly $1 million a year and reduces carbon pollution significantly.

“Now, that’s the kind of foundation we’re trying to build all across America,” Obama told the crowd. “In this case, what happens in Vegas should not stay in Vegas.”

Yet even as the president announced new funds to replicate the success of the Nellis plant, the future growth of the solar industry in Nevada was in doubt Wednesday.

State lawmakers in Carson City are considering a package of financial incentives that could make Nevada a leader in renewable energy. But the bills had been caught in political gridlock, and even if they emerge today they might still be vetoed by Gov. Jim Gibbons.

Assembly Bill 522 extends tax abatements for renewable energy generation plants that are set to expire by July, and offers the operators greater property tax relief. Already, Nevada’s tax accommodations to renewable energy producers exceed what surrounding states offer, according to a study paid for by the solar industry this session.

Solar developers and renewable energy advocates see the legislation as a critical boost to the state’s nascent solar industry.

But political horse-trading has stalled the bill in the Legislature for much of the session.

Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford had held hostage the tax abatements in his chamber because of Assembly opposition to one of his key bills, legislation related to green jobs. The ice thawed Wednesday when the Assembly passed his bill out of a key committee, after brokering a compromise.

In return, the Senate is expected today to hear and pass the bill offering additional tax abatements for renewable energy producers.

But even if the bills make it through the Legislature, their future is uncertain. Gov. Jim Gibbons could veto them after the session ends June 1, preventing any attempt at a veto override. Solar advocates say such a move would be the death knell for the fledgling industry.

“The tax abatements put us in competition with other states,” said Tom Clark, a renewable energy lobbyist. “The large developers of renewable energy will look elsewhere if Nevada does not have the abatements.”

Jim Baak, a director of policy for the nonprofit Vote Solar, said tax abatements are crucial to companies seeking financing to build new facilities, in large part to help offset manufacturing costs.

“Solar developers are looking where they can locate plants for the lowest cost, so they can deliver the lowest-cost energy to utilities,” he said. “Nevada has a young but growing industry with so much promise. Without those abatements, the state would be missing a tremendous opportunity.”

The competition is considerable.

Nevada has been eclipsed by other states — notably New Mexico — in attracting solar part manufacturers that want to be close to the expected solar generation boom in the Southwest.

Schott Solar, for instance, opened a plant in Albuquerque this month that employs 300 workers and is expected to eventually employ 1,500.

Gibbons had not formally taken a position on the bill, but his chief of staff, Josh Hicks, was in talks with legislators throughout Wednesday. Sources say he had concerns about the requirement in the bill that renewable energy projects would be required to pay workers 150 percent of the state average wage to qualify for the abatement.

But industry sources said they have agreed to that provision.

Another possible reason Gibbons might veto it: The bill requires that the state’s new energy commissioner be approved by the Legislature — oversight unwelcomed by the governor.

The bill’s primary sponsor, Assemblywoman Marilyn Kirkpatrick, D-Las Vegas, said she would be open to striking that provision.

At Nellis, Sen. Harry Reid marveled at the state’s potential. He said the base’s solar plant “indicates to me there is so much more that needs to be done and can be done — and much of it should be done here in Nevada.”

He added: “We’ve got it all here. We are the Saudi Arabia, potentially, of renewable energy.”

Key word: potentially.

David McGrath Schwartz reported from Carson City.