News Releases

NV Energy Named Among Top Solar Utilities in United States

Apr 30, 2015
10:46am

NV Energy Customers Now Benefit from Nine Utility-Scale Solar Projects in Nevada

LAS VEGAS, April 30, 2015 – NV Energy has been named among the utilities that integrated the most megawatts of solar energy in the United State in 2014, earning a spot on the Solar Electric Power Association’s (SEPA’s) annual Top 10 utility solar listings.

In survey results released April 29 in San Diego, NV Energy ranked No. 7 among investor-owned utilities with 364 megawatts of cumulative installed solar capacity and No. 9 for 71 megawatts of installed capacity in 2014 alone.

The 2014 success was primarily based on two utility-scale solar projects that achieved commercial operation in 2014, as well as NV Energy’s support of rooftop solar energy installations through its SolarGenerations program. The 20-megawatt Mountain View solar array north of Las Vegas employed about 115 workers and achieved commercial operation January 2014. The 17.5-megawatt Searchlight Solar project near Searchlight represented about 120 jobs in Nevada and was operational December 2014.

Combined, those two solar projects can meet the energy needs of nearly 25,000 homes.

The awards were announced at SEPA’s Utility Solar Conference in San Diego. The eighth annual survey includes figures from more than 1,000 utilities across the country on new solar they installed both in 2014 and cumulatively.

NV Energy recently announced that it also exceeded Nevada’s 18 percent Renewable Portfolio Standard requirement for 2014. In northern Nevada, the utility achieved a 33.6 percent renewable energy and renewable energy credit level, and in southern Nevada it achieved a 20.2 percent renewable portfolio standard, based on retail energy sales.

Currently, NV Energy customers are benefitting from nine utility-scale solar energy resources. Additionally, customers in Nevada are served by 20 geothermal energy facilities, a large wind farm, six hydroelectric plants, and five landfill, biomass or waste heat recovery projects.

The full Top 10 listings are available on the SEPA website at www.sepatop10.org.

About NV Energy, Inc.

NV Energy, Inc., provides a wide range of energy services to 1.3 million customers throughout Nevada and nearly 40 million tourists annually. NV Energy is a holding company whose principal subsidiaries, Nevada Power Company and Sierra Pacific Power Company, do business as NV Energy. NV Energy is headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada. Information about NV Energy is available on the company’s website, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube pages, which can be accessed via nvenergy.com.

About SEPA

The Solar Electric Power Association (SEPA) is an educational nonprofit organization working to help utilities make solar energy a safe, reliable and reasonably priced part of their energy portfolios, while benefiting themselves, their customers and the general public. As co-sponsor of both PV America and Solar Power International, SEPA provides research reports and educational opportunities, including webinars, fact-finding missions and professional networking events.

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For further information: Mark Severts, 702-371-8652, mseverts@nvenergy.com