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March 29, 2024

Nevada Wonk

Gov. Brian Sandoval visits Boulder City solar array, suggests lease revenue could ease state deficit

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Brian Sandoval

Copper Mountain Solar One

Copper Mountain Solar One and Eldorado Solar are seen on the left and Nevada Solar One on the right of Eldorado Valley Road off U.S. 95 in Boulder City on Thursday, Feb. 10, 2011. Launch slideshow »

Gov. Brian Sandoval visited Southern Nevada on Friday to dedicate Copper Mountain Solar, a recently completed solar array in Boulder City that's the largest photovoltaic plant in the U.S.

Developed by Sempra Generation, the solar plant stretches across 380 acres of desert and includes 775,000 photovoltaic panels, enough to power 14,000 homes. It went online at the end of last year.

The project has been a boon for Boulder City, which is leasing land to Sempra for tens of millions of dollars -- a fact Sandoval noted.

"Maybe you can share a little bit of that with the state?" Sandoval suggested to Boulder City Mayor Roger Tobler.

The governor was likely only half kidding. Carson City lawmakers have a reputation for balancing the budget on the backs of local municipalities.

In 2009, when the Legislature considered taking part of the property tax revenues that go to Clark and Washoe counties, Clark County officials proposed the state instead take money from a different fund. The state took both.

Sandoval's comment elicited nervous laughs from the crowd, which included several Boulder City officials. Tobler later noted: "The only mistake Sempra has made so far is telling the governor how much we're getting in our leases."

The Copper Mountain project created 350 construction jobs, a fact Sandoval and Sempra officials emphasized. They didn't mention that only five of the jobs are permanent.

"Every job is a great job," Sandoval said. "It's a proud day for Southern Nevada. It's the essence of what we are trying to accomplish here...in terms of diversifying the economy and taking advantage of our renewable energy resources."

Sempra relied on both state and federal tax incentives (pushed through Congress by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid) to fund the project.

And more solar panels are on their way. Boulder City recently approved a Sempra plan to more than quadruple the solar complex. Copper Mountain Solar currently produces 48 megawatts of energy. The next phase would produce an additional 200 megawatts.

Sempra also operates the adjacent El Dorado Solar array, which generates 10 megawatts of electricity.

Boulder City is quickly becoming Nevada's solar power hub. Several companies have built solar fields on city-owned land, and Tobler said he estimates projects will create 800 to 900 jobs over the next five years (although only a fraction would be permanent.)

Copper Mountain is the fifth large-scale solar array built in Nevada since 2007, Public Utilities Commission Chairwoman Alaina Burtenshaw said. The state is second to California for solar power generation capability, she said.

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