The Chuck Lenzie Generating Station, a 1,160-megawatt, natural gas-fired power plant, is running and generating electricity in time for electric power users to benefit from its high efficiency during the peak power season this summer, Nevada Power Co. said Monday.

"With this second unit of our Lenzie facility now commercial, an additional 580 megawatts of power is flowing to customers in Southern Nevada," Senior Vice President of Energy Supply Roberto Denis said in a statement.

Nevada Power completed the plant ahead of a June 30 deadline, qualifying it for a financial incentive through its customer rates. The Public Utilities Commission authorized the electric utility to earn 2 percent more return on equity on the power plant, because the commission determined Lenzie was a critical facility.

The company is expected to seek the incentive through its next general rate increase application, which is due in November.

Lenzie is the first company-owned power plant completed since 1995. Nevada Power bought the mothballed, half- complete power plant from Duke Energy of Charlotte, N.C., in 2004 for $182 million.

The plant, 20 miles northeast of Las Vegas at the Apex Industrial Park. was renamed in honor former Nevada Power CEO Charles "Chuck' Lenzie.