Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

EDITORIAL:

Nevada voters can take the lead on renewable energy development

In 1997, Nevada became one of the first states in the U.S. to adopt a minimum requirement for green energy production.

Today, however, other states have zoomed past us in setting such standards. In fact, Nevada’s requirement for 25 percent of our energy to come from renewable sources no longer ranks us in the top 10. We’re trailing New Jersey, of all places. New Jersey!

So it’s commendable that a group known as Nevadans for Clean Future Energy has been working on an initiative to boost Nevada’s minimum to 50 percent by 2030.

The group is circulating a petition that would put the initiative on a statewide ballot. Tuesday is the last day the group can collect signatures.

Organizers say they’re confident the petition drive will be successful, which is good to hear. The initiative deserves a spot on the ballot.

Nevadans have shown time and again they support development of renewable energy, so it’s worthwhile to debate whether to bump up the requirement to 50 percent. It’s also worth exploring considering the popularity of a similar bill in the 2017 Nevada Legislature, which would have raised the minimum to 40 percent.

Gov. Brian Sandoval vetoed that measure, saying its passage was “premature in the face of evolving energy policy in Nevada.” Sandoval said the requirement — technically known as a Renewable Portfolio Standard — could create complications given the likely passage of the Nevada Energy Choice Initiative ballot issue, which would allow Nevadans to choose their energy provider in the same way they select a cable/internet provider. Specifically, Sandoval was concerned that the increased RPS would create added costs that would deter providers from entering the market or be passed along to customers in the form of higher electricity rates.

Sandoval also said the change could result in higher fees for resorts and large corporations to exit the NV Energy grid and obtain their power from third parties.

Those points will no doubt be discussed if the RPS initiative gets on the ballot, but there’s one thing that’s not up for debate: Setting a higher requirement is the only guarantee for Nevadans that renewable energy production will expand here.

And that’s important, because there are clear benefits from growing the state’s green energy industry.

Our abundance of sunlight and our above-average potential in geothermal production makes us one of the nation’s best-suited places to develop renewables, yet only about 18 percent of our energy is generated by those sources. Meanwhile, we’re spending roughly $700 million a year to import natural gas and other fossil fuels to power the state’s grid.

Boosting production from renewable sources would not only reduce those costs, but would help free the state from volatility in the fossil fuel market.

It would also generate economic activity, of which the current 25 percent standard has already yielded $7 billion in solar and geothermal operations.

Other benefits would come from reducing carbon emissions, which would help improve air quality and reduce respiratory problems triggered by air pollution. Nevada produced 35 million metric tons of carbon dioxide in 2015, which would be reduced by 3 million tons a year under the initiative.

Whether this is the right time to increase the standard, and whether this is the right level for Nevada, are questions that should be debated.

Getting the question on the ballot is a starting point, though, which is why the petition deserves support.