Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

EDITORIAL:

One way or another, solar power must be part of Nevada’s energy landscape

The Gemini Solar project, which received federal approval for construction last year, is seen in two very different ways among environmentalists.

Some support the massive array — the biggest in the United States — because its infusion of renewable energy will reduce reliance on coal-fired power plants and thereby cut down on carbon emissions from the electric grid.

But others believe the project’s benefits don’t outweigh the environmental risk it poses to the 11 square miles of Mojave Desert it will cover about 30 miles northeast of Las Vegas. The opponents argue that while solar arrays are definitely needed, they should be built in areas that are already developed — think residential rooftops, parking structures and cleared plats in Las Vegas — instead of on undeveloped land.

Which side is correct? Unfortunately, there are no pat answers on this one. More study is needed, and people on both sides of the issue would do well not to dig in but rather to give the issue the extensive, good-faith discussion it deserves.

No doubt, it would be ideal if solar energy expansion could take place exclusively within the footprint of incorporated areas. And there’s certainly potential for it — there are acres and acres of rooftop space and other areas in Las Vegas that are not covered by solar panels.

But there are shortcomings with building utility-scale capacity in urban areas, including right-of-way and property access issues. If you were looking for a place for a project on the scale of Gemini Solar, which is designed to produce enough electricity to power 260,000 homes, a wide-open piece of ground would offer far fewer headaches than a developed metro.

That said, the impact of solar development in places like the Mojave can’t be ignored. It poses a risk to rare plant life and habitat for desert tortoises and other wildlife. And while the current land-use impact of solar energy is relatively small, we’re still coming to grips with what the effects of utility-scale implementation would look like.

One thing we know for sure, though, is that we need to keep moving forward on solar energy, particularly in sunny places like Southern Nevada. It’s a critical need in addressing climate change.

The Gemini Solar facility fits that bill. It’s designed to generate 690 megawatts of electricity and will include a battery system that can store 380 megawatts for use after nightfall or during peak times like early evening. The first phase of the project will generate 440 megawatts exclusively for Nevada, while the second phase will provide 250 megawatts for Nevada, Arizona or California. If built on schedule, the solar farm is expected to go online in 2022.

However, the project is under litigation from environmental groups, so the timeline is uncertain. The same goes for the large-scale Yellow Pine solar project near Pahrump.

The demand for more solar power, combined with environmental challenges of building in undeveloped areas, beg for industry and state leaders to encourage development in incorporated areas.

Among the possibilities:

• Establish regulatory policies and incentives to encourage community solar, which is where groups of homeowners or business operators can combine to create solar arrays that serve more than a single home or building. Nevada lawmakers rejected a community solar bill in 2019 and, unfortunately, haven’t reconsidered it during this session. They need to get the idea back on the table.

• Revisit the state’s net-metering restrictions. Simply put, net metering offers credits to solar customers who make excess electricity with their solar panels and send it back to the grid. Under the current statute on net metering, the credits for customers decline as more rooftop solar comes on line. Needless to say, that runs counter to the idea that the state should be encouraging more Nevadans to adopt solar power.

• Develop policies making it advantageous for farmers to convert farmland to solar arrays, especially for land bearing water-intensive crops like alfalfa. The state would save water and increase solar capacity, all without an impact on undeveloped land.

Meanwhile, Nevada needs to work with the Bureau of Land Management to develop a comprehensive siting plan for utility-scale solar development, similar to one that governs new solar construction in California. There, state and federal officials identified desert areas where the environmental impact of solar development would be relatively minor, and solar projects have moved forward.

“The conservation community begrudgingly said (the sites) were OK, and you know what? It’s a hell of a lot better than oil and gas,” said Patrick Donnelly, Nevada state director of the Center for Biological Diversity, in an email. “So if Nevada could engage in some large-scale spatial planning for solar development, we might actually build some solar projects.”

Such comprehensive planning is not only a good idea, it’s a necessity.

Solar is our future in Southern Nevada. We need to keep working together to ensure we can add capacity in both developed and unincorporated areas, and do it with as little harm to our wild lands as possible.