Utility Dive summarized Nevada’s clean energy omnibus bill SB 448, citing AEE’s coalition letter supporting the bill’s RTO language. Read snippets below and the full article here.
SB 448, introduced by state Sen. Chris Brooks, a Democrat from Las Vegas, advances Nevada's goal to reach 100% carbon-free resources by 2050, set in a 2019 bill that also raised the state's Renewable Portfolio Standard to 50% by 2030. The new bill goes further, requiring utilities to forecast a path to achieve an 80% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions from 2005 levels by the end of the decade.
A crucial piece of that bill is the accelerated construction of the Greenlink Nevada project, anchored by more than 600 miles of new transmission lines connecting the western part of the state to the East and to Las Vegas …
The bill also sets Nevada on a path toward joining a competitive wholesale energy market with other western states, creating an 18-member task force to examine the steps Nevada would need to participate in an RTO. Although the bill sets a requirement to join an RTO by 2030, there are options to delay or bypass that requirement.
Clean energy advocates highlighted the RTO language, saying in a letter that joining one would help Nevada play a "leading role in the design of the market that offers the most benefits to the state's economy and economic recovery."
"Modernizing Nevada's energy system through strengthened interstate cooperation will benefit ratepayers with lower costs and increased reliability, while maximizing the performance of the electric grid system-wide, allowing for higher levels of renewable energy integration to cost-effectively meet state decarbonization goals, and stimulating the economy," said the supporters, including Google, EDF Renewables, Enel, and several conservation groups
Additionally, the bill requires NV Energy to file a plan by September 2021 to invest $100 million in electric vehicle infrastructure…
Energy storage facilities would see financial assistance in the form of an expanded renewable energy tax abatement program.
Read the full article here.