An official with the Nevada Public Utilities Commission said Wednesday that there has been escalating tension and intimidation directed at agency staff over the rooftop-solar debate and that at least two Las Vegas protesters at a Monday hearing on the issue were openly carrying firearms.
Electric car manufacturer Tesla has weighed in on the net metering debate before the Nevada Public Utilities Commission, asking state regulators to reconsider new rooftop-solar rates that took effect Jan. 1.
Nevada had the third largest number of solar jobs among all states in 2015 and the most solar jobs per capita, according to a new report being released Wednesday by a national group, the Solar Foundation.
State lawmakers looking at eliminating outdated or nonfunctional boards and commissions were told Tuesday that Gov. Brian Sandoval is preparing to direct an existing task force to make policy recommendations on a variety of energy issues including rooftop solar.
Dozens of rooftop-solar employees showed up at a hearing of state utility regulators Monday in support of a ballot referendum being pushed by the industry that would restore more favorable net metering rates for homeowners.
NV Energy on Friday proposed to state utility regulators that if rooftop solar customers who installed systems last year are grandfathered in under the old, more generous net metering rates by state regulators that they be given a 20-year grace period.
A proposed constitutional amendment to open up Nevada’s electricity markets and give consumers “meaningful choices” of utility providers was filed Wednesday with the secretary of state’s office.
Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid pointed to his own state’s record Wednesday when urging support for an amendment that he says would not only help protect consumers who generate their own power from abusive rate increases but also save the rooftop solar industry.
A coalition of rooftop solar companies on Tuesday urged the U.S. Senate to adopt an amendment to an energy bill that would give states the authority to prohibit monopoly utilities from retroactively penalizing customers who invest in solar.
NV Energy has proposed to state utility regulators seven different options to grandfather in rooftop solar customers who installed systems before new, less generous net metering rates took effect on Jan. 1.
Nevada government and business leaders may have to shift at least part of their established economic development focus from renewable energy to other opportunities if new net metering rules drive the rooftop-solar business out of Nevada as predicted by industry officials.
California has delivered a narrow victory to the solar industry by maintaining a policy that has underpinned rooftop solar’s dramatic growth while introducing fees that were smaller than utilities requested.
Wynn Las Vegas LLC has gone to court to challenge the $15.7 million fee it must pay to leave as a retail customer of Nevada Power Co. and secure its own energy supply on the wholesale market.
The Nevada Public Utilities Commission on Monday approved three renewable energy agreements that add 129 megawatts of solar generation capacity in Nevada and bolster the efforts of Apple Inc. and Switch Ltd. to operate their Nevada data centers with 100 percent green energy.
NV Energy announced Monday that it will propose to allow existing net energy metering customers with rooftop solar systems to remain on old, more favorable rules in a transition period as long as 20 years.
