Head of Nevada AFL-CIO calls on workers to support NV Energy

By Kyle Roerink

Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2015 | 2 a.m.

The Nevada AFL-CIO is rallying workers to demand that NV Energy charge rooftop solar customers for transmitting power to the electric grid.

Danny Thompson, the executive secretary-treasurer of the Nevada AFL-CIO, which represents workers from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, said in an email last week that "everyone should pay their fair share."

"Net metering shifts costs to nonsolar customers," Thompson wrote.

NV Energy, the state's largest power provider, has a contract with more than 600 employees from the IBEW for maintaining the grid and working on other projects throughout the state.

The call comes as NV Energy and rooftop solar companies go in front of regulators on Wednesday and Thursday to hash out a long-term cost structure for a policy called net metering, a program that pays rooftop solar customers for providing energy to the grid. The AFL-CIO plans to send workers to meetings at the Public Utilities Commission, marking one of the first alliances the power company has forged in the yearlong solar battle.

The AFL-CIO's call sets up a showdown between union workers and the solar industry, which employs 6,000 people statewide.

"The price of going solar has dropped by half over the past five years, giving Nevada consumers an affordable option for lowering their electricity bills," said Jessica Scott, a regional manager for Vote Solar, an industry advocacy group. "With that opportunity now hanging in the balance, Nevadans of all walks of life are coming together to urge the PUC to stand strong for solar progress."