Nevada uniquely positioned to lead nation on renewable energy

Gov. Brian Sandoval's renewable energy leadership continues to position Nevada as a clean energy economic growth engine. Recently, the governor directed state agencies to begin working toward Clean Power Plan compliance, reducing carbon pollution from existing power plants. "By pursuing the strategy, we will ... provide Nevada with the best opportunity to develop a proposal that will utilize the state's portfolio of clean energy resources," he said.

Since adopting its Renewable Portfolio Standard in 1997, Nevada has led, and continues to lead, national carbon pollution reduction efforts, taking advantage of its clean energy resources. In 2013, Sandoval signed into law a bipartisan bill, SB123, reducing Nevada's coal-fired generation dependence. And under the federal Clean Power Plan, Nevada is well-positioned to use renewable power to drive innovation, grow its economy and provide clean, affordable energy to businesses and homeowners.

Once implemented, the Clean Power Plan will reduce carbon pollution by 32 percent nationwide by 2030. Each state has flexibility to develop a compliance plan that best suits its specific situation using a mix of cleaner power sources. We encourage Nevada to quickly develop a path to compliance.

The good news: Nevada's homegrown renewable energy sources — including wind, solar, geothermal, biomass, and hydropower — already provide 24 percent of the state's power needs and could expand significantly by 2030. What's more, renewable energy is affordable. Since 2010, the cost of solar installations has dropped 53 percent, while the cost of wind energy has declined 66 percent since 2009. As a result, new installations are proving to be cost-competitive in Nevada and across the country. The recent agreement between First Solar and NV Energy will provide the least expensive electricity in America, even compared with energy sourced by coal and natural gas.

Additionally, expanding the renewable power sector to meet the state's growing demand will further help the economy. Although Nevada has already attracted more than $6 billion in renewable energy investment, the state has the potential to bring in more than $5 billion in wages and create an additional 92,000 construction jobs in a high-growth scenario, according to analysis from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and U.S. Department of Energy data.

Adding a significant amount of new renewable power under the Clean Power Plan won't negatively impact the electricity grid's reliability. In fact, multiple independent studies have found that adding wind and solar plants will improve power system operations, increase reliability and stability, reduce carbon dioxide emissions and minimize the potential for large-scale blackouts if traditional fossil-fired or nuclear plants experience sudden failures.

Clean energy usage and investments aren't constrained to the renewable energy industry. Major companies investing in Nevada are employing renewable energy to power their businesses, including MGM Resorts International, Tesla, Apple and Switch Communications. Through power purchase agreements, Nellis Air Force Base runs 100 percent of its daylight operations with solar power, and the city of Las Vegas plans to use 100 percent renewable energy by 2017. As a result of this commitment, our companies, Invenergy and E.ON Solar, are a few of the many that are exploring renewable energy development opportunities.

The Clean Power Plan provides Nevada with a real opportunity to ensure the renewable electricity market is able to reach its full potential. By utilizing Nevada's abundant natural resources, we can lead the nation in the clean energy transition and provide Nevada homeowners and businesses with a more stable grid, lower power bills, new jobs and a stronger economy that is well-positioned for future success.

— Steve Trenholm of Chicago is CEO of E.ON Solar. Mick Baird of Littleton, Colo., is vice president of business development for Invenergy.