Las Vegas Sun

June 3, 2012

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Sun Editorial:

Solar should benefit state

Lease revenue from solar plants on federal land should be shared with Nevada

Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2009 | 2:05 a.m.

Now that solar energy industries are dawning in Nevada and other sunny Western states where the federal government owns a large portion of the land, it is time for a change in how lease revenue is distributed.

Las Vegas Sun reporters Stephanie Tavares and Lisa Mascaro, in a story in Friday’s paper, pointed out that 100 percent of what solar power companies pay to lease federal land goes to the Treasury Department in Washington.

In Nevada, where the federal government owns nearly nine of every 10 acres, that is not right. Although solar plants are vital and welcome from national and regional perspectives in this age of climate change, solar plants do affect states and their residents in aesthetic and financial ways.

Solar plants require thousands of acres, which means, for many Nevadans, their views and their recreational opportunities are somewhat diminished. Nevada’s wildlife and water supplies can be affected, as can its public funds if there is a fire, crime or accident at the plant and emergency services are dispatched.

We strongly support solar plants but it is only right that some of the lease money their owners pay to the federal government be shared with their home county as well as the state government.

There is precedent for this in the Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act. Passed by Congress in 1998, the law entitles Nevada to a portion of the revenue generated by federal land sales in this area. The law was passed to compensate Nevada for the vast amount of federal land here, land that cannot be used for tax-producing development.

Both of Nevada’s U.S. senators, Democrat Harry Reid, the majority leader, and Republican John Ensign, have introduced bills that include provisions for sharing lease revenue on solar and wind projects.

We hope those bills do not get overshadowed by other priorities, as the solar industry is here and growing. Leases are for the long term, and their language should be changed soon, before too many more are negotiated.

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