The federal government will do a sweeping study of the environmental effects of solar power plant development on public land in the Southwest, in part to speed up approval of solar projects. But for developers, the study may be a fast track to the slow lane. While the Bureau of Land Management, which controls 67 percent of Nevada land, including many rural areas where solar arrays would be located, completes a lengthy study, the agency will impose a moratorium on new applications to put solar panels on federal land. Developers will have to wait at least 22 months - until at least spring 2010 - for the results of the study.

General Nevada

A letter from U.S. Senator Harry Reid of Nevada to Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne has been touted as a development in the crusade for renewable energy by Reid following a recent meeting with Nevada's congressional delegation regarding wind power development in Nevada. In the letter, Reid highlights his key priorities and urges Secretary Wynne to develop a centralized process for considering proposed wind projects. ..."The review process would be more fair and effective," Reid argues, "if the state as well as other federal agencies, wind power developers and the public had access to relevant military stoplight maps and an explanation of how the maps would be used in review projects."

General Nevada

Sierra Pacific Resources and Renewable Energy Systems Americas Inc. said Thursday they're working on an agreement to jointly develop and operate a large wind-energy project in Elko County and southern Idaho. Located on about 9,000 acres of federal, state and private lands - including land less than 10 miles west of Jackpot - the proposed China Mountain project could generate more than 200 megawatts of electricity.

General Nevada

Defense Secretary Robert Gates has informed Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid that the military will not object to wind farms in an area of eastern Nevada, moving a $1 billion project closer to reality. Tim Carlson, a renewable energy developer, plans to build a 450-megawatt wind farm in the Wilson Creek Range area 40 miles north of Pioche. ...Hill Air Force Base in Utah has been concerned about wind-power projects in the area because wind turbines can interfere with radar. But Reid received assurances from Gates that the department will not object to wind farms in the Wilson Creek area, spokesman Jon Summers said Tuesday.

Safety General Nevada

And now the obstacles: Although Gates has acquiesced to Wilson Creek, he still opposes development at Goldfield, an old mining town near Tonopah. He is concerned the 300- or 400-foot-tall turbines could affect Air Force radar or training exercises. Even environmentalists, supportive of renewable energy in general and wind in particular, worry about bird deaths and the effect of roads built on mountain peaks where Nevada's winds blow strongest. Federal tax credits that support wind and other renewable energy industries are set to expire next year unless Congress renews them, which it is expected to do.

General Nevada

Defense Secretary Robert Gates has told Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid that the military won't object to wind farms in an area of eastern Nevada, moving a $1 billion project closer to reality. Tim Carlson of Nevada Wind, a renewable energy developer, plans to build a 450-megawatt wind farm in the Wilson Creek Range area 40 miles north of Pioche. He said the Defense Department's agreement is "another step forward" to developing what would be Nevada's first utility-size wind farm. Hill Air Force Base in Utah has been concerned about wind-power projects in the area because wind turbines can interfere with radar.

Safety General Nevada

Up to 20 percent of land owners in Douglas County will now be able to use windmills to generate energy. In an effort to encourage renewable energy use, the Douglas County Board of Commissioners passed an ordinance Thursday that allows windmills to be built on residential parcels of five acres or larger.

General Zoning/Planning Nevada

CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) -- Gov. Jim Gibbons isn't joining U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in condemning three proposed coal-fired power plants in rural Nevada that would supply electricity to Las Vegas. Although coal plants long have been criticized for the pollutants they spew into the air, the Republican governor said new technology "minimizes the production of carbon dioxide or greenhouse gas emission." Reid, D-Nev., said he opposes the coal-fired plants in White Pine and Lincoln counties because they would produce millions of tons of pollution. As an alternative, he wants the state to consider renewable forms of energy and improved energy efficiency.

Energy Policy General Nevada

WASHINGTON - The House rejected a resolution Wednesday that would block government plans to spur construction of major new power lines in many states regardless of local opposition. The issue has been contentious in parts of the East Coast and in the Southwest, where two high priority transmission corridors for power lines were proposed. Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., warned colleagues that unwanted power lines could come to their district.

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A new federal proposal to help electricity flow more freely could help the energy-choked East Coast. But it could also infuriate landowners, who have traditionally gotten their way in fights against utilities in Delaware. U.S. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman last week named Delaware as part of his proposed eastern National Interest Electric Transmission Corridor. It would run from New York to Virginia, and west to Ohio. A second corridor would run through California, Arizona and Nevada.

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Lawmakers debated three bills Wednesday that change Nevada utility regulation, including one to classify power plants that burn tires as renewable energy systems for purposes of meeting state standards for “green” energy production. The other bills heard by the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee state that co-ops, non-profits and renewable energy systems are exempt from the state environmental review laws on utilities. The co-op and nonprofit measure, SB111, was approved despite opposition from state regulators and the Nevada Conservation League. The environmentalist group also opposed the other two bills, which will come up for committee votes at later hearings. SB111, sponsored by Sen. Mike McGinness, R-Fallon, would exempt non-profits and co-ops that want to build power plants from terms of the state’s Utility Environmental Protection Act, or UEPA.

Energy Policy General Nevada

At the halfway point between the West Coast energy crisis of 2001 and the next major electricity contract renewal year of 2011, a federal power marketing agency is proposing a policy change that could affect rates in the Pacific Northwest for generations and become a national model for energy development. Northwest hydropower is one of the cheapest energy resources in the nation - about half the current market rate for electricity. The Bonneville Power Administration - which sells power in all of Washington, Oregon and Idaho and parts of California, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming and Montana - announced this summer it wants to change the way it charges utilities for its wholesale power, to keep rates low.

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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Seven utilities have announced formation of a partnership to advance the Frontier Line, an electric-power transmission grid that would serve Wyoming, Utah, Nevada and California.

General California Nevada Utah Wyoming

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.

Taxes & Subsidies General Nevada

KINGMAN - Putting Mohave County on the cutting edge of alternative energy sources took a step forward at Wednesday's planning and zoning commission meeting.

General Zoning/Planning Nevada

ELY - Local officials are opposing an Air Force request for more airspace over eastern Nevada, saying it could scuttle plans for two power plants and a wind farm.

General Nevada