Nevada has handed out tax incentives worth an estimated $45 million to lure solar and geothermal projects to Nevada over the past four years. So far, the state has received in return promises that the projects' developers will create 89 permanent jobs. It's a number so small that some lawmakers are questioning whether taxpayers are getting a good return on their investment in the incentives.

State regulators on Wednesday gave Nevada's investor-owned electric utilities authority to spend $300 million to start developing the $3.7 billion Ely Energy Center and a related transmission line, but split on a proposal to give the utilities investor bonuses for the project if the utilities develop additional renewable energy plants. Nevada Power Co. of Las Vegas will pay 80 percent of the cost of the 1,500-megawatt, coal-fired plant; Sierra Pacific Power Co. of Reno will pay the rest. The Public Utility Commis-sion order specified that the project, which would be the largest power plant in the state, was a "critical facility," meaning the commission could later grant proposed financial incentives.

Advocates of renewable energy say federal tax credits for solar and wind power projects will expire next year before Nevada projects can be approved and operating.