Las Vegas Sun

March 18, 2024

Where Sandoval’s energy task force stands on renewables, solar

For Nevada’s energy sector, the legislative session started early.

Representatives from the energy industry and lawmakers on an energy task force Thursday recommended several pieces of legislation that ranged from eliminating outdated statutes to grandfathering pre-2016 rooftop solar customers under prior rates. It asked the governor to reconsider the way regulators plan for the future. And it sought to give regulators more leeway in how NV Energy is incentivized.

These were some of the ideas that the New Energy Industry Task Force asked Gov. Brian Sandoval to consider in the next two months, as he mulls over what proposals he wants to forward to the Legislature.

Yet on several systemic issues, the task force punted.

Following a disagreement about future mandates for clean energy, the group referred the issue to a subcommittee for an economic analysis.

That analysis will likely be included in a comprehensive report that the New Energy Industry Task Force plans to offer later this year. That report’s recommendations won't be incorporated in legislation Sandoval could propose, but could be weaved into other legislation.

In considering eight recommendations Thursday, the task force, which includes officials ranging from NV Energy to the solar industry, offered insight into several clean energy issues facing Nevada:

A difficult path forward on expanding the renewable mandate

When the governor called the task force, he asked that it look at ways to encourage clean energy development in Nevada. But Sandoval will not be receiving a recommendation — at least a legislative proposal — from the task force on a mandate to promote clean energy.

What ought to become of the renewable portfolio standard was the subject of lengthy debate. The current standard requires utilities to derive 25 percent of their electricity from renewable energy by 2025.

On Thursday, the task force was asked to consider raising that mandate to 50 percent by 2040. In such a scenario, half of NV Energy’s power would come from renewables or be offset by credits.

The panel voted not to suggest that idea to the governor.

Some had concerns that it would be costly to consumers. And clean energy advocates are split too, with many arguing that the renewable portfolio standard model is too weak and contains too many loopholes.

One suggestion was to base the future mandate on how much fossil fuel would be permissible rather than how much clean energy a utility should have. Under such a proposal, NV Energy would have to reduce its fossil fuel supply to 60 percent by 2026 and 40 percent by 2040.

The issue was tabled after a flurry of questions were raised about both models: What would be the economic impact? Would utility customers see higher rates? What would it mean for reliability?

Of course, there are other ways to encourage clean energy

There are a number of actions that regulators could take. And on Thursday, the task force began pushing for some of those reforms.

The task force asked Sandoval to ensure that the Public Utilities Commission, when regulating how the utility plans for the future, consider options providing the greatest economic and environmental benefits. This, along with another measure, could have the effect of making renewables a more favorable option than acquiring natural gas.

Another proposal, which was forwarded to the governor on Thursday, would allow regulators to end the practice of incentivizing NV Energy for selling more electricity. Right now, how much power the utility sells is factored into a guaranteed rate of return it receives as a monopoly. This proposal would allow regulators to end that incentive.

All in all, these seemingly minor changes could encourage renewables.

Most people think rooftop solar customers should be grandfathered

Except for the utilities commission.

In December, the commission approved new rates that tripled a fixed fee and reduced the value of credits rooftop solar customers earn for sending excess electricity back to the grid. The ruling applied to all customers, even those who adopted solar before the decision.

On Thursday, the task force recommended legislation to fix the issue. From NV Energy to organized labor, almost the entire task force lined up behind the concept of letting people who installed rooftop solar under more favorable utility rates keep those rates for 20 years.

The plan would grandfather customers who installed solar or were in the process of doing so when the new rates went into effect Jan. 1.

Bringing back solar. That’s going to take more time

Few energy issues have been as politically sensitive as the debate over how to integrate rooftop solar with the electricity grid. When the utilities commission adopted the new rates in December, SolarCity and Sunrun halted sales operations and laid off hundreds of workers.

Now SolarCity is working hard to come back to Nevada, so hard that it dropped about $2 million on a political action committee working to undo the rules. NV Energy has contributed $1 million to oppose the group. The task force didn’t weigh in on the issue at its meeting.

Instead, it asked for more time.

A subcommittee of the task force will continue exploring options for the future of rooftop solar and how best to integrate emerging technology, such as battery storage. They are weighing possibilities that include higher reimbursements for solar customers and aligning the utility’s incentives with greater deployment of rooftop solar.

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