Reid renews coal battle
PAHRUMP — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Wednesday that he is not going to divulge his battle strategy for stopping development of three coal-fired power plants in Nevada.
"We’ve got plans. I’m not going to telegraph my punches. We’ve got a month-by-month process," Reid, D-Nev., said after speaking to about 200 constituents at the Bob Rudd Community Center in Pahrump.
Reid addressed a list of national policy issues along with energy during his speech to a friendly crowd of graybeards, retirees in shorts and a few younger voters. But the Nevada Democrat focused on his opposition to coal-fired power plants and his support of renewable energy.
He first publicly opposed the Nevada coal plants in a letter that was made public on July 26.
The legislative leader said he felt morally compelled to oppose coal power.
"I sat around, I believe, far too long and did nothing about it," Reid said. "I just couldn’t in good conscience keep my mouth shut."
Reid complained that one of the plants will burn 7 million tons of coal yearly, polluting national parks, Nevada and Utah. The power plants also would emit large quantities carbon dioxide, which leads to global warming.
Sierra Pacific Resources, the holding company for Nevada Power Co. and Sierra Pacific Power Co., is developing one of the three coal plants at Ely. The utility company plans to spend $3.8 billion building the coal-fired Ely Energy Center and a transmission line that will link the plant to Northern and Southern Nevada. Independent power company LS Power also proposes to build a coal-fired plant at Ely, and Sithe Global Power wants to build one near Mesquite.
Reid noted that the utility company complained about his comments, but he offered a suggestion.
"Nevada Power, instead of standing around whining about this, should develop some alternative energy," he said.
Reid said the utility took the "easy way" and decided: "Let’s build coal plants. It’s cheaper."
The senator contends that Nevada can obtain enough new power generation from renewable power such as solar, wind and geothermal resources in the form of hot underground water.
Large building owners could build combined heat and power systems that create both heat and power from a single source, he said. Consumers could take steps to reduce power consumption and install solar power systems to generate some of their needs, according to Reid’s proposal.
Utility and energy industry executives say renewable energy can only help meet demand for electricity. Industry executives argue that Nevada also needs to continue building plants that burn fossil fuels, particularly coal, to keep up with growing demand for electricity.
Industry leaders say Nevada is already too reliant on natural gas for generation and that gas prices often fluctuate wildly, causing rate increases.
Reid will address executives in the electric power business, including representatives of Sierra Pacific Resources, on Saturday at the Clean Energy Summit in Reno. Reid and the Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada are hosting the one-day conference. Gov. Jim Gibbons, who supports the Ely coal plant, also is scheduled to participate.
Reid also is taking his message directly to Nevada voters at town hall meetings on renewable energy and opposing coal-fired power plants. The meeting in Pahrump is the first of several town hall meetings Reid will use as a way to promote renewable energy, spokesman Jon Summers said.
Meanwhile, the Public Utilities Commission last week discussed backup plans for developing a new unit at Sierra Pacific Power’s coal-fired Valmy plant — if the Ely Energy Center is not built.
If the coal-fired plant is stalled or stopped, Nevada Power’s contingency plans call for building a 1,200-megawatt, gas-fired plant although this was not discussed by commissioners.
Commissioner Rebecca Wagner last week said the Ely Energy Center project might fail, but she said she was not reacting to Reid’s letter.
"My biggest fear is not having a reliable source of power for ratepayers," Wagner said. "We have to have a viable back-up plant."
State consumer advocate Eric Witkoski said Nevada might be able to meet its growing power needs with renewable energy projects instead of coal-fired plants — if the state is able to develop wind power along with solar and geothermal power.
Michael Yackira, chief executive officer of Sierra Pacific Resources, rejected Reid’s criticism of the company’s renewable energy program.
The Nevada utility company is a "leader in renewable energy." The utility company, Yackira said, will have more solar power per person than any other electric power company in the nation with the completion of a solar power plant late this year at Nellis Air Force Base.
