Forum touts Nevada’s efforts in renewable energy

A day after the Interior Department announced plans to fast-track solar-power plants on public lands in Nevada, a clean-energy forum met to discuss how government agencies, legislators and private businesses have advanced green power.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., hosted the Tuesday meeting of his Blue Ribbon Panel on Energy at the Las Vegas Springs Preserve.

Among the speakers was Ron Wenker, Nevada director of the Bureau of Land Management. Wenker laid out details of renewable-energy projects planned on some of the 48 million acres his agency owns across the Silver State.

The bureau counts six wind-power projects in various stages, as well as 32 "very active" applications for solar projects. If all those proposals materialize, they'd generate 13,000 megawatts of power. A Duke Energy wind farm east of Searchlight, for example, would serve 90,000 homes on 370 megawatts of power, while the 58-megawatt Copper Mountain Solar plant south of Boulder City will power more than 30,000 homes when it's finished.

Wenker said the bureau has authorized 370 leases of geothermal hotspots in Nevada. Ten plants already operate, producing 300 megawatts, with an additional 10 plants and 300 megawatts planned. The leases provide revenue that's split among counties, the state and the federal government.

"The challenge is to make sure all the projects are sited in an environmentally sound manner that does not interfere with other uses," Wenker said.

Other panel participants speaking Tuesday included Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev.; Nevada Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford, D-Las Vegas; Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas; Michael Yackira, chief executive officer of NV Energy; and representatives of Harrah's and MGM Mirage.

Titus, Horsford and Buckley talked about federal and state laws written to bolster renewable energy.

Yackira shared details on NV Energy's efforts to promote energy efficiency and conservation among the utility's 2.5 million electric customers. NV Energy helped its customers save 435 million kilowatt hours, or more than 1.4 percent of its annual power output, in 2008.

Casino executives reviewed conservation inside their resorts, including switching to compact fluorescent light bulbs and having new construction reach sustainability standards.

"A company like ours has the responsibility to make others aware of how their behavior affects the environment," said Cindy Ortega, senior vice president of energy and environmental services for MGM Mirage.

Contact reporter Jennifer Robison at jrobison@review journal.com or 702-380-4512.