Tesla files for $8M incentive tied to Reno factory
By SEAN WHALEY REVIEW-JOURNAL CAPITAL BUREAU
Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Motors Inc., left, discusses the company’s new Gigafactory Tuesday, July 26, 2016, in Sparks, Nev. (Rich Pedroncelli/AP)
The Tesla Motors logo on a sign at the entrance to the company’s Gigafactory in McCarran, Nevada, on April 25, 2016. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg)
Construction continues at Section F of the new Tesla Gigafactory during a media tour Tuesday, July 26, 2016, in Sparks, Nev. Itճ Tesla Motorsՠbiggest bet yet: A massive, $5 billion factory in the Nevada desert that could almost double the worldճ production of lithium-ion batteries by 2018. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
Construction continues on the new Tesla Gigafactory during a media tour Tuesday, July 26, 2016, in Sparks, Nev. Itճ Tesla Motorsՠbiggest bet yet: A massive, $5 billion factory in the Nevada desert that could almost double the worldճ production of lithium-ion batteries by 2018. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
Tesla’s Gigafactory east of Reno is already huge but only 14 percent of the final facility is built. Tesla gave a tour on Friday, March 18, 2016. (Sean Whaley/Las Vegas Review-Journal Capital Bureau)
Traffic moves past the main gate of the Tesla gigafactory in the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center, east of Sparks, Nev. on Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2016. The approximately 10 million square foot lithium-ion battery facility can be seen at center rear. Cathleen Allison/Las Vegas Review-Journal
The Tesla Gigafactory east of Reno already is producing home and larger-capacity-storage batteries. Tesla gave a tour on Friday, March 18, 2016. (Sean Whaley/Las Vegas Review-Journal Capital Bureau)
CARSON CITY — Tesla Motors has filed an application with state utility regulators to take advantage of an economic incentive authorized by the Nevada Legislature for its gigafactory east of Reno.
The application with the state Public Utilities Commission would allow the electric car manufacturer to implement and use the Economic Development Rate Rider, worth $8 million.
The rate rider program, created in 2013, allows the Governor’s Office of Economic Development to offer reduced energy rates to new, large-scale users as part of an incentive package. In 2014, GOED issued a pre-approval for Tesla for the EDRR.
The law was extended in the 2014 special legislative session to bring Tesla’s lithium-ion battery plant to Nevada. Tesla will get a discount on its energy bill for up to 25 megawatts of power over eight years of a 10-year contract with NV Energy.
