Green energy bills reviewed

CARSON CITY — Nevada lawmakers heard testimony today on a Gibbons administration bill aimed at reducing energy use in state buildings, and another that would explore possible use of Hoover Dam as a hydropower source.

Sen. Mike Schneider, D-Las Vegas, chairman of the Senate Energy, Infrastructure and Transportation Committee, said that under SB358 the state Energy Office would prepare a plan to reduce grid-based energy purchases in state buildings by 20 percent by 2015.

The bill calls for tracking energy use in state buildings to determine how energy can be used most effectively to ensure that taxpayer money is spent wisely.

"Our goal is to see what is working and what isn't, what we could do to improve and what we needed to eliminate," Schneider said about state energy use, adding that Nevada has the highest per capita energy consumption in the West.

The bill also would give the Legislature authority to act if any agencies fail to cooperate with the plan. Some federal stimulus money coming to the Energy Office would help to start the planning process.

Cindy Edwards, administrator of the state Division of Buildings and Grounds, asked the committee for some flexibility if the program is implemented, saying it would be "problematic" to require owners of buildings leased by the state to pay to identify and complete projects that would save energy and money.

"It is our belief, that the vast majority of building owners will be resentful of the state dictating how to run their buildings and spend their money," Edwards said.

SB339 would explore use of hydrokinetic power from Hoover Dam to generate electricity by requiring Nevada's Colorado River Commission to conduct a feasibility study. The goal of the bill is to look into the widest range of renewable energy technologies possible.

"It might seem strange that the driest state in the nation would have an interest in hydropower, but we have an existing resource, Hoover Dam, which perhaps, through new technologies could contribute even more to the renewable power of Nevada and our region," Schneider said.

Schneider staffer Paul Freeman said hydropower provides a constant source of energy as long as there are flowing currents of water, in contrast to other sources of energy such as wind and solar.

"This presents an obvious advantage over wind and solar power, because it is not always windy, and the sun is not always shining," Freeman said.