| 3/16/2021 |
Clark County Board of Commissioners
| Presented as Recommended
Agenda note: DOCUMENT(S) SUBMITTED:
Clark County Commission NV Energy Resiliency Preparedness and Planning PowerPoint (9 pages) submitted by representative
SPEAKER(S): Present
DISCUSSION: A representative of NV Energy (NVE), President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Doug Cannon, made a presentation to the Board regarding the preparedness of southern Nevada’s electrical grid for extreme temperatures and associated weather events; stated that NVE served approximately 1.5 million customers or 90 percent of the state’s population, along with a typical state tourist population of more than 56 million annually; contributions were made to the local economy through jobs, partnerships, and paid tax revenues which in 2020 totaled more than $231 million; provided an overview of the power crisis experienced in Texas due to non-weatherized power plants, the lack of transmission infrastructure with out-of-state energy resources, and deregulation which ultimately cost Texas electric customers more than $28 billion in additional costs; Nevada maintained a more stable model that was fully regulated with full oversight by the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) of Nevada; that Nevada had an integrated resource planning process and annual reviews of energy loads and resources, and was better prepared to deal with the extreme high and low temperatures experienced in southern and northern parts of the state; the interconnected grid provided the opportunity of drawing energy from surrounding states; advised that NVE had been committed to renewable energy since 1987, that in 2020 approximately 29 percent of energy delivered to homes was renewable, and the goal was to one day deliver 100 percent renewable energy; the current renewable energy portfolio consisted of 56 large-scale geothermal, solar, solar-plus storage, hydro, wind, biomass, and supported rooftop projects in service and under development; in the fall of 2020 a $120 million bill credit was delivered to customers, as well as a rate reduction in January; more than 12 renewable energy projects were in development which would provide more than 1,000 megawatts of battery storage which ensured the availability of renewable energy to customers during peak demand periods; transmission or the ability to move the energy through the Greenlink Nevada infrastructure initiative was pending with the PUC, which would significantly increase renewable energy development in Nevada, and at the same time economic development opportunities for the state and jobs would be increased; since 2005, carbon emissions had been reduced by 55 percent; NVE was protecting customers and the community from the impacts of climate change and natural disasters such as monsoons or wildfires through the Natural Disaster Protection Plan; and that NVE was committed to provide safe, low-cost, reliable energy.
In response to questions by the Board, the representative stated that the Natural Disaster Protection Plan was needed and addressed natural disasters such as monsoons; certain equipment could be installed at substations that would expedite restoration of power in the event of a disaster; power poles in town were the property of NVE and maintenance was their responsibility; federal law dictated that the poles be made available for co-location of lines within the pole; installation of underground lines that would replace above ground poles was ongoing; an undergrounding plan had been approved by the PUC, and NVE was engaged with County staff to identify high priority lines for relocation, and that funds had been earmarked for that plan; millions of dollars per year were invested to ensure that proper cyber security standards were met at all local, state and federal levels which required certain industry certifications being maintained, regular briefings, and internal drills and exercises; and that partnerships with higher education were in place with University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV), University of Nevada Reno (UNR), the College of Southern Nevada (CSN), and other higher education institutions in Nevada. | |
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