Increased energy efficiency measures by NV Energy are key

A report released June 14 by the Sierra Club reveals that it would be significantly cheaper for NV Energy ratepayers if the utility moves quickly to retire its nearly 50-year-old Reid Gardner coal-fired power plant than if the company prolongs its operation.

An independent economic analysis of NV Energy data found that retiring Reid Gardner by 2013 would save $59 million over continuing to run the plant until 2023 -- and that bill-payers could have seen savings of $121 million if the company had acted sooner to retire the coal plant.

“We’ve long known that Reid Gardner is old, inefficient, and expensive to maintain,” said Timothy Hay, a former Nevada Public Utility Commissioner and former Nevada Consumer Advocate. “Now we have solid evidence that ratepayerscould save a lot of money with retirement of the coal plant and more energy efficiency. The sooner it happens, the more beneficial to residents and businesses.”

There is plenty of surplus power generation capacity available on the grid to replace Reid Gardner’s 557 megawatts if it were retired. However, the report released on Thursday found that replacing Reid Gardner generation with increased energy efficiency will be more cost effective than buying power on the wholesale market. Retiring Reid Gardner will also avoid major spending on pollution control upgrades the plant needs.

“We have thousands of homes in Southern Nevada that could reduce their energy consumption and energy bills,” said Mary Venable, president of Efficiency First Nevada, the professional organization for the

home performance industry. “This work can create ongoing jobs in our struggling construction industry, jobs that can’t be outsourced. We have a skilled and motivated workforce ready to go.”

Summarized in a “Special Report for Nevada Ratepayers,” the full independent study by energy analysts at Resource Insight, Inc. on behalf of Sierra Club is being submitted by Sierra Club to the PUCN as part of the commission’s ongoing investigation of the Reid Gardner plant. The analysis is based on NV Energy filings to the PUCN in late March.

“All eyes now are on our public utility commissioners and NV Energy,” said Jane Feldman with the Southern Nevada Group of Sierra Club. “Nevadans already pay some of the highest electricity rates in the region, and times are difficult for many families. Retiring Reid Gardner and stepping up efficiency is a way to help us all save money, create jobs, and protect public health and water.”

In addition to the $59 million saved, another benefit of retiring Reid Gardner rather than extending its operating life includes avoiding the continued use of 8,300 acre-feet (2.7 billion gallons) of fresh water the plant draws from the Muddy River each year for its operations, according to the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection.

Reid Gardner retirement would also save millions in public health costs that result from asthma attacks and other ailments triggered by the plant’s smokestack emissions, and curtail coal ash waste landfill operations that produce millions of gallons a year of contamination that enters groundwater near the Muddy River.