NV Energy proposal focuses on energy-efficiency measures

Local power utility NV Energy has filed a wide-ranging resource plan, and the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada wants to know what you think about the proposal.

The commission has scheduled two consumer sessions on Monday for ratepayers to register feedback on NV Energy's integrated resource plan. The plan details how NV Energy expects to obtain and distribute the power it sells to consumers over the next 20 years.

It's the first time the commission has held a consumer session on a resource plan.

Included in the plan, which NV Energy must update every three years, are proposals for a 235-mile, 500-kilovolt transmission line that would connect power grids across Nevada and enable NV Energy to tap into renewable power generated in rural areas. NV Energy would develop the $550 million line with New York-based LS Power. Funding for the project is set to come from federal stimulus money.

Also in the proposal is NV Energy's $300 million Advanced Service Delivery initiative, through which the company plans to install digital "smart meters" that allow consumers to track power use and let NV Energy charge different electric rates based on peak energy consumption. NV Energy has secured $138 million in federal stimulus funds to help cover the cost of launching Advanced Service Delivery. Some of the remainder could be recovered through power rates.

NV Energy's resource filing is also noteworthy because it's the first company plan in roughly a decade to exclude requests for funds to build or expand fossil-fuel projects. Instead, it relies heavily on energy-efficency measures and renewable power.

Commissioner Sam Thompson, the presiding officer over the docket, thought consumer sessions were necessary in this case because of the amount of public and press interest in the transmission line and in smart meters, said commission spokeswoman Stephanie Herrera. It's important to provide an opportunity for the community to hear directly from NV Energy regarding those plans, and it's important to allow the public to directly receive answers from the utility, she said.

The state Public Utilities Commission must approve NV Energy's integrated resource plan before the utility can pursue the proposal's components.

The consumer sessions are scheduled for 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. Monday at Cashman Convention Center, 850 Las Vegas Blvd. North, in rooms N262 and N264.

The commission will also allow public comments at the beginning of its hearing on the first phase of NV Energy's dockets. The hearing is scheduled for May 17 at 10 a.m. in hearing room A at the commission's Las Vegas office, 101 Convention Center Drive, Suite 250.

To view NV Energy's integrated resource plan, visit www.puc.nv.gov. Click on "docket info" and select "electric dockets." Choose dockets 10-02009 and 10-03023. For more information, call the commission at 486-2600.