NV Energy, Inc. and Renewable Ventures, a Fotowatio company, announced that they have entered into a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) for the sale of energy produced from a 26-megawatt (MW) DC solar photovoltaic (PV) power plant that will be constructed near Apex, Nevada.

The project, expected to be completed by the end of 2010, will be the second solar PV agreement that NV Energy has announced in the past month, following the agreement with American Capital Energy (ACE) for energy from a 20 MW DC array in Searchlight, Nevada.

“Continuing to add clean energy resources to our portfolio is a core element of our company’s three-part energy supply strategy,” said Michael Yackira, NV Energy president and CEO. “We are working diligently to keep Nevada at the forefront in use of solar energy by continuing to tap into the abundant resources that our state is blessed with.”

Terms of the power purchase agreement, which is subject to approval by the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada, were not disclosed.

"Renewable Ventures is delighted to be working on this solar PV project. We are honored to have been selected to work with NV Energy to deliver clean, renewable solar energy to Nevada," said Matt Cheney, CEO of Renewable Ventures.

The agreement will help NV Energy in meeting Nevada’s portfolio standard, which was recently increased by the state’s legislature. The standard now requires that 25 percent of energy be generated by renewable resources and energy efficiency and conservation programs by 2025.

The companies said all of the electricity produced by the solar power plant will be used by customers of NV Energy’s southern service territory. The project will create approximately 200 jobs during construction and is expected to produce enough energy during operations to power an estimated 5,000 homes annually.

About Renewable Ventures, a Fotowatio company

Fotowatio, one of the largest solar power companies in the world, is an independent renewable power producer (IPP) with 130 megawatts of solar projects in operation in the United States and Europe. Fotowatio has more than 1,000 megawatts in development across the United States, Spain and Italy using both PV and CSP technologies. A global company, Fotowatio is owned by GE Energy Financial Services, Landon Group, and Qualitas Venture Capital. Renewable Ventures is Fotowatio’s U.S. global business unit with an exclusive focus on the development of commercial and utility-scale solar projects throughout the United States. For more information, please visit www.fotowatio.com or www.renewableventures.com.

About NV Energy

Headquartered in Las Vegas, NV Energy, Inc. is a holding company whose principal subsidiaries, Nevada Power Company and Sierra Pacific Power Company, are doing business as NV Energy. Serving a combined 54,500-square-mile service territory that stretches north to south from Elko to Laughlin, NV Energy provides a wide range of energy services and products to approximately 2.4 million citizens of Nevada as well as approximately 40 million tourists annually.

These statements contain forward-looking statements regarding the future performance of Nevada Power Company d/b/a NV Energy, within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, risks related to constructing and financing solar renewable energy projects, regulatory approval and permitting, and fluctuating PV output from the plants. Additional cautionary statements regarding other risk factors that could have an effect on the future performance of NV Energy, are contained in the Annual Reports of NV Energy, Inc. and Nevada Power Company d/b/a NV Energy on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2008 and in its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2009, and June 30, 2009 filed with the SEC. NV Energy undertakes no obligation to release publicly the result of any revisions to these forward-looking statements that may be made to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.