By Anjeanette Damon and Andrew Doughman
NV Energy’s powerful lobbying corps has quietly tried to muster wide support for a major energy proposal at the Legislature, but the choreographed show it hoped to premiere to legislators didn’t go quite as planned.
The gaming industry, the largest energy user in Southern Nevada and a powerful lobbying interest, has expressed serious concerns with the utility’s banner proposal, and Gov. Brian Sandoval’s chief policy adviser and legal counsel resigned in the wake of the governor’s decision to side with NV Energy on the issue.
Less than two weeks ago, the investor-owned utility unveiled a major new initiative to divest from coal-fired power generation and build new natural gas and renewable energy power plants. But NV Energy’s bill also asks the Legislature to lock in a 10-year plan that would require ratepayers to shoulder the costs of the plan and limit the Public Utilities Commission’s ability to oversee any associated rate hikes.
In a final, frenzied push Friday morning to move the bill through a critical committee deadline, NV Energy’s lobbyists met with Sandoval’s staff and major energy stakeholders, including gaming companies and renewable energy representatives.
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