NV Energy issued a request for proposals to add new renewable energy projects to its portfolio. This announcement comes on the heels of the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada’s (PUCN) December 2019 approval of 1,190 megawatts of new solar energy and 590 megawatts of battery storage to be built in Nevada and serving customers by January 1, 2024.
“We continue our commitment to our customers to expand our use of renewable resources while working to reduce energy costs for our customers,” said Doug Cannon, NV Energy president and CEO. “We expect these new projects to provide some of the lowest-cost renewable energy available, which will directly benefit our customers.”
The request for proposals seeks solar, geothermal, wind, biomass and biogas technology projects that are compliant with Nevada’s existing renewable portfolio standards. NV Energy will also consider adding supplemental energy storage systems that are integrated with the proposed renewable energy resource and stand-alone energy storage systems. Projects will be competitively evaluated on a number of factors, including best value to customers of NV Energy and creation of economic benefits to the State of Nevada.
NV Energy requests that all parties interested in becoming a bidder for this opportunity register on the company’s website here and follow each of the directives under the “Steps to Complete” section of the website.
Bids are due by 4 p.m. on March 9. Projects proposed by successful bidders will require the approval of the PUCN. It is anticipated the projects would be completed and producing energy for customers by December 31, 2025.
News item from NV Energy
Solarman says
Interesting how carefully this seems to be worded: ““We continue our commitment to our customers to expand our use of renewable resources while working to reduce energy costs for our customers,” said Doug Cannon, NV Energy president and CEO. “We expect these new projects to provide some of the lowest-cost renewable energy available, which will directly benefit our customers.”’
“…some of the lowest-cost renewable energy available,…” There will still be a string of PUCN rate cases wanting electric rate increases to pay for “stranded assets” not fully paid for and construction costs for new renewable energy projects in the que for the near future. At this time it is unclear if the bid process will create the cheap electricity of the future or if the utilities will find a way to stretch out a higher cost per kWh sold to the ratepayers from these new alternative energy and energy storage facilities.