In wind farms, Nevada decidedly calm

It might seem inconceivable following the recent Legislative session, but Nevada lacks bluster.

A state agency is questioning the Silver State's lack of wind energy, and says it's ready to coordinate discussions that could get wind projects moving.

Stacey Crowley, director of the Nevada State Office of Energy, said she'll open talks to reconcile the interests of wind developers, governments and "stakeholders" such as environmental groups.

"Sometimes, issues involving environmental impacts collide with quality wind locations," Crowley said. "We want to help interested parties find a place to meet on their concerns."

Numbers show Nevada lags the region in wind development.

At the end of 2010, every state surrounding Nevada had at least 128 megawatts of wind power up and running. And Nevada? Nada. The Silver State doesn't have a single wind farm big enough for utility use.

Nevada has five big wind projects totaling 1,150 megawatts on the drawing boards, but only one -- Pattern Energy's 150-megawatt Spring Valley project in White Pine County -- has completed federal, state and local permitting and started construction. Even there, hurdles remain: A lawsuit over Spring Valley's environmental-impact process is before the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Three Native American tribes and an environmental group filed the lawsuit in January, claiming the federal Bureau of Land Management, which owns the 8,565-acre site, fast-tracked the project's approval without a proper impact statement.

Crowley said the energy office could prevent such flaps by leading talks about project siting, impact mitigation and other issues before permitting begins.

Tom Fair, NV Energy's vice president of renewable energy, said his company would welcome the energy office's help. NV Energy has been trying since 2002 to build wind power in Nevada, but it's been tough to get projects started.

In some cases, tests of a specific site's available wind were disappointing. In other cases, financing fell through. A few potential sites conflicted with military uses. Plus, the federal government owns 85 percent of Nevada, which means virtually every renewable project developed here must go through at least two years of environmental impact studies required by federal law. NV Energy, which has agreed to purchase power from Spring Valley, is also developing China Mountain, which is still undergoing environmental review and remains at least 18 months away from breaking ground.

Tom Darin, the Western regional representative for the American Wind Energy Association, said federal land ownership in Nevada relates to another ongoing wind-power obstacle: too little transmission capacity.

Nevada's best wind resources are in its central and northern portions, far from the southern population center. There's no north-south transmission grid, so building wind farms hasn't been practical.

But that hurdle is about to fall. Darin said it took more than half a decade to get through regulatory processes, but NV Energy's 235-mile One Nevada transmission line (ON Line) between Ely and Apex is under way. ON Line will connect NV Energy's northern and southern power systems and allow the utility to send juice in either direction. The line is to be completed in 2013.

Still, it's not likely wind will ever match solar and geothermal power in Nevada's renewables portfolio, Fair said. Nor is the Silver State likely to catch up to neighboring states in wind energy. It's more mountainous than many other Western states, and wind farms need less rugged terrain.

Nor do Nevada's ranges have the types of mountain passes that channel wind into California's plains.

"Nevada is not going to be the wind breadbasket. It just doesn't have that kind of resource," Fair said. "But Nevada does have enough wind sites to make wind an important part of our portfolio. We will use those sites. It's not going to be easy, but we're just about at the point where we're going to see some of those projects come to fruition."

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