Friday, Jan. 11, 2002 | 9:54 a.m.
A proposal to build a hydroelectric plant on Blue Diamond Hill may come down to the issue that would power the project: the water itself.
Las Vegas Valley Water District staff members are working with Blue Diamond Power Project, the developer of the proposed plant, to resolve questions surrounding engineering and supplies.
District approval is one of the principal hurdles the developer must clear to build the plant. The plant would provide about 400 megawatts of power during peak periods of electric use, such as hot summer days when air conditioners throughout the valley are humming. It is enough power for about 200,000 homes in the summer.
The "pumped storage" plant would buy relatively low-cost power during low-use periods, pumping water uphill to one of two water reservoirs. When power is more expensive, engineers would run the water back downhill, pushing a water turbine to generate power for resale on the regional grid.
The project would need about 391 million gallons. J.C. Davis, district spokesman, said the agency's engineers are working with Blue Diamond Power Project staff to determine the best way to bring the water to the project.
Still outstanding is the issue of water availability. Davis said the district will only provide the water if it did not adversely affect the agency's 800,000 customers.
If the engineering and availability issues are resolved, the district probably has to approve the contract, Davis said.
"We have to look at our service rules and apply them evenly, regardless of who the applicant is," he said.
Davis said his agency does not have a timeline to provide the water permit. But Reed Noble, a principal with St. George, Utah-based Creamer & Noble Engineers, said his company expects to move forward with construction within a year.
Creamer & Noble is a partner with multinational Mitsubishi Corp. in the development company.
While the water district can approve the water, the project faces another obstacle: Since the project is planned for federal Bureau of Land Management property, Congress must first pass an extension to the original lease granted the project in 1994.
Sen. Harry Reid, the Democratic majority whip, introduced legislation in June to grant the lease extension, but then put the bill on hold for the resolution of environmental and water-supply issues.
"Our office is still waiting on input from all the rest of the stakeholders before making a decision whether to support, or not support, the Blue Diamond facility," Reid spokesman Nathan Naylor said.
The project is fiercely opposed by area environmentalists, who argue that rare plants and animals need to be protected on the hill, which is adjacent the Red Rock National Conservation Area.
They also argue that the hydroelectric plant will use more power than it produces, power that comes from traditional fossil-fuel plants that generate air pollution.
The environmentalists, among them members of the local Sierra Club, did not sway two agencies that have signed off on the project. The Bureau of Land Management has given a green light, saying it doesn't have the authority to block construction.
And the Clark County Commission in May said it, too, did not have authority to block a proposed power facility on federal land.
Environmentalists hope they can block the proposal in Congress. Sharon Ryan, a Las Vegas-based conservation organizer for the Sierra Club, said members are closely watching what is happening in Washington.
But the project's designers argue that the plant's environmental threats are minimal and positives are important. Company officials say the $300 million project would return $3.3 million annually to Clark County in property taxes over the lifespan of the 50-year federal lease.
More important, the plant would provide power when the area needs it most, Noble said. He referred to last summer's blackouts that hit some parts of the Las Vegas Valley.
The power shortfalls on high use days are exactly what the project is designed to combat, he said.
"If you would have had this online, you would have solved your problems," Noble said.
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