NV Energy seeks to buy more solar power for its big customers

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Steve Marcus

Exterior view of the NV Energy building Monday, Oct. 20, 2014, in Las Vegas.

Mon, Nov 30, 2015 (6:02 p.m.)

The state's largest power utility wants to add more solar to its portfolio.

NV Energy, which serves more than 1 million customers throughout Nevada, filed an application on Monday with the Public Utilities Commission to buy power from projects currently being developed by First Solar and SunPower in Clark County. The power company hopes the PUC will approve a deal for it to buy a total of 129 megawatts, which would likely power the equivalent of more than 20,000 homes, from the solar companies.

The new energy will be sold at a premium to large-scale companies looking to cut their carbon footprint.

“This filing reflects our commitment to working with large customers to meet their specific energy needs, without negatively impacting the rates of other customers,” said Paul Caudill, NV Energy president and CEO.

More than 60 percent of the power will go toward meeting data storage company Switch’s renewable energy demands. The remaining will be used to offset the energy consumption of a “large-scale” customer in Northern Nevada, according to NV Energy. Switch, one of the state’s biggest energy consumers, hashed a deal with NV Energy this summer to power its operations with 100 percent renewable energy. The city of Las Vegas is awaiting approval from the PUC to do the same with NV Energy.

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