NV Energy CEO: Residential power bills have lowered from 10 years ago

CARSON CITY — NV Energy President and CEO Paul Caudill told a panel of lawmakers studying energy issues on Wednesday that residential power bills in Southern Nevada are lower in January of this year than they were a decade ago.

Based on an average usage of 1,141 kilowatt hours per month, Southern Nevadans pay $140.77 now compared to $141.91 a month in October of 2007. Reductions are also reported for the company’s northern Nevada customers.

Caudill, speaking to the Assembly Commerce and Labor Subcommittee on Energy, also noted that the utility has helped Nevada reduce its carbon emissions from the power sector by 44 percent between 2005 and 2015.

Nevada Energy’s carbon dioxide emissions totaled 888 pounds per megawatt hour in 2016, already well below the federal Clean Power Plan goal of 1,001 pounds per megawatt hour by 2022.

The Clean Power Plan was issued in the fall of 2015 by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. It phases in new carbon dioxide reduction requirements through 2030 but some states are challenging the regulations in court.

A Nevada state official said in 2015 that the state is well positioned to meet the reductions required in the plan.

Caudill briefed lawmakers on the utility, which became part of Berkshire Hathaway Energy in late 2013, as the 2017 Legislature starts to consider a range of energy issues, from renewable power to rooftop solar and net metering.

Nevada could also be opened up to competition for power customers if Question 3 on the 2018 ballot is approved.

NV Energy is neutral on the measure, but it has issued a list of key principles that should be part of any discussion if the proposal goes forward.

Lawmakers were also told that Nevada Power, the company’s business operation in Southern Nevada, will be completely out of coal-powered production by 2019. The fourth and final unit at the coal-fired Reid Gardner plant near Moapa will close in March. The original shutdown date was Dec. 31 of this year.

The company’s ownership interest in the Navajo Generating Station at Page, Arizona, is set to end in 2019.

In all, 812 megawatts of coal-fired generation are being retired or eliminated and Nevada Power will no longer generate electricity from coal.

The only other coal-fired facility, the Valmy plant in Northern Nevada, serves Sierra Pacific, the company’s northern Nevada business. It is set to close in 2025 but some environmental groups are pushing to close it earlier.

NV Energy has 484 megawatts of geothermal resources at 18 locations in Nevada, mostly in the north. Another 12 solar projects generate 541 megawatts of electricity. Four other large-scale solar projects that will produce 479 megawatts of electricity are in development.

Contact Sean Whaley at swhaley@reviewjournal.com or 775-461-3820. Follow @seanw801 on Twitter.