Summary of Recommendations: Legislative and Regulatory Actions to Consider for Ensuring the Long-Term Effectiveness of the Nevada Renewable Portfolio Standard

摘要

In 2001, the Nevada Legislature passed an aggressive renewable portfolio standard (Nevada RPS) that called for 5% of each major utility's resource mix to come from eligible renewable energy by 2003, rising by 2% every two years to 15% by 2013. Of the RPS standard, 5% per year must come from solar energy. The early performance of the Nevada RPS is generally considered to be disappointing. So far, only a small quantity of electricity state wide has been generated by new renewable energy systems. The utilities and many other stakeholders appear to agree that the utilities, which were unable to fully comply with the RPS in 2003, will continue to have difficulty complying in 2004 and 2005, and perhaps beyond. To date, there have been several efforts to improve compliance with the RPS (such as California and New Mexico). Other states in the region are also motivated to develop their renewable resources, and some have adopted RPS policies. A workshop as held on November 4, 2004 in Reno in order to address additional measures available to strengthen the Nevada RPS, and to consider the implications and potential interaction with RPS policies in nearby states. The purpose of this report is to identify and summarize the top policy priorities, from among those identified and discussed at the November 4, 2004 Reno Workshop, to be considered by the Nevada Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Task Force for implementation.