Nevada improves RPS with cap removal, but penalties weakened

On May 8, the Nevada Public Utilities Commission (PUC) eliminated a 1/2 mill ($0.0005) cap on retail utility rates that had threatened a 5 percent solar component of a renewable portfolio standard passed by the state legislature in May 2001.

© Rex Windom/US DOE/NREL Uncapped: Removal of caps on utility rates could be good news for solar in Nevada, like this 16 kW Schott APC system at the Desert Research Institute in Las Vegas.

The PUC had instituted the cap in December; the state's Legislative Commission reaffirmed the solar component by rejecting the cap and sending it back to the PUC for review in January (see PI 2/2002, p. 20).

But in addition to cap removal, the PUC also ruled that the state's two utilities, Nevada Power and Sierra Pacific Power Company (SPPC), won't be penalized if they lag in meeting renewable energy targets for 2003 and 2004. As the law now stands, they are required to generate 5 percent of electricity sold to retail customers from renewable sources by 2003, increasing to 15 percent by 2015. The PUC's revised ruling was scheduled to go back to the Legislative Commission on May 31 for further review. If approved, it is uncertain how or if the utilities will make up their quotas later. Robert Cooper, senior regulatory analyst in the state's Bureau of Consumer Protection, points out that a PUC regulation written two days after the ruling provides for a »fine or other administrative action« for non-compliance. »The 'other action' presumably includes making up the missing amount of [electricity generated from] renewable energy,« he says.

The utilities are being tight-lipped about bids that have been received for solar installations. SPPC's Colin Duncan says all of the information »is being retained as confidential by the utility.«

William P. Hirshman
© PHOTON International, June 2002