Nevada Power Co. spends millions so businesses can pay less for energy

One of the most interesting things to Artisan owners Douglas and Ninette Da Silva, however, is that Nevada Power Co. is paying them to help the hotel save $9,000 on its power bills each year.

The Da Silvas are taking advantage of a Nevada Power program that offers incentives to install energy-saving technology and equipment to lower electricity use. The Artisan, located at 1501 W. Sahara Ave., is spending $20,000 on new equipment, of which Nevada Power is contributing $18,000.

“Obviously, they are in the business of selling energy, but here they are helping us buy less of it,” said David Poire, hotel operations director.

Nevada Power, in fact, is spending $8 million this year on energy conservation-related financial incentives for commercial customers like the Artisan. The energy company spent about the same last year.

The Public Utilities Commission and state law directs Nevada Power to establish programs to help commer-cial and residential customers save energy.

The programs are necessary because the more commercial and other customers reduce their power consumption, the less Nevada Power must spend to build new power plants or buy fuel on the wholesale market.

Regardless of Nevada Power’s motivations, of course, businesses just want to staunch the outflow of cash for electricity.

Nevada’s electric rates for businesses have risen 48 percent since 2000 and continue to climb.

These increasing energy costs are causing business owners to make conservation a higher priority.

Even after the Arab oil embargo of the 1970s, “we still didn’t believe that we were going to run out of oil,” said Gene Sagas, director of operations at Fitzgeralds casino, a downtown property dating from 1979. The casino is betting today that energy will continue to be a precious commodity.

It isn’t practical to install roof-top water-cooled chillers for Fitzgeralds, but Sagas found other ways to cut down on power consumption at the hotel-casino.

Fitzgeralds is spending $365,000 to replace window air conditioners with the most efficient window units available. Nevada Power has agreed to pay a $60,000 incentive to Fitzgeralds for the power-saving air conditioners.

Sagas figures the new units will pay for themselves through lower power bills through the next three years, thanks in part to the financial incentive from Nevada Power. Fitzgeralds also has installed T-8 fluorescent tubes, which are more efficient than standard tube fluorescent lights. It has replaced high-wattage flood lights that use one one-fifteenth of power than the bulbs they replaced.

The casino installed window tinting for just 6 cents a square foot thanks to incentives from the electric utility.

At the Artisan, Nevada Power contracted with Franklin Energy to install devices that minimize the time lights and air conditioners run in guest rooms.

The system allows guests to insert their key cards into a slot near the door that allows the air conditioner to run. When guests leave the room, they remove the cards, turning off the air conditioning.

Motion sensors inside the rooms switch the bathroom lights off after 30 minutes, Poire said. The hotel set it for that long so guests would have enough time to finish a shower before the lights go out. The Artisan also is replacing incandescent light bulbs with efficient, cool compact fluorescent bulbs.

The energy savings are expected to run 25 percent to 40 percent for each guest room.

Nevada Power promotes a few other conservation programs for commercial customers, including programs called SureBet, SolarGenerations and Cool Share. SureBet gives commercial consumers incentives to install energy efficient air conditioners and lighting, as well as occupancy sensors that cut the power off when everyone has left a room. SureBet New Construction offers incentives for energy saving technologies at new developments. SureBet Small Hotel/Motel is designed to help inns with fewer than 200 guest rooms save on energy bills.

SolarGenerations gives businesses with 150 or fewer employees rebates for installing photovoltaic panels, which silently convert sunlight into electricity. Nevada Power will start taking applications for rebates on Aug. 1.

Cool Share is Nevada Power’s revised air conditioning load management program for small businesses and residential customers.

The program provides a free programmable thermostat suitable for 10 tons of cooling or less. The thermostat has a wireless receiver that gets signals from Nevada Power to raise the temperature a few degrees during periods of peak energy demand, typically summer afternoons.

“Every time, we reach out and touch that thermostat, they get a dollar,” said Greg Kern, Nevada Power’s director of energy efficiency.

A business can opt to override the upward thermostat adjustment, but then they forgo the $1 incentive.

A slight increase in temperature can make a big difference in a business’ electric bill, though.

On average, every one degree increase in temperature can reduce a customer’s electric bill by about 2 percent, Kern said.

Nevada Power is preparing to take other energy conservation incentive programs out of the box.

The electric company has designed a pilot program that will encourage businesses in leased space to make energy efficiency improvements, said John Hargrove, Nevada Power senior program manager.

Otherwise, tenants may be reluctant to spend money on space that it leases. The program starts this summer.

The utility this month will start giving distributors financial incentives to keep energy efficient motors in inventory. Nevada Power recognizes that when a motor fails on a refrigeration unit, the small businessman wants it replaced immediately — he or she doesn’t have time to wait for delivery of the most energy efficient motor.

Nevada Power is giving its commercial customers another reason to start saving energy.

For the largest Strip casinos, rates climbed 4.2 percent on June 1. For small commercial customers, rates have ballooned by 6.4 percent.

This story first appeared in the Las Vegas Business Press. John Edwards writes for the Business Press’ sister publication, the Las Vegas Review-Journal.