AB 32

AB 32 requires that California's statewide greenhouse gas emissions be reduced to 1990 levels by 2020, and that the California Air Resources Board adopt regulations by January 1, 2008 regarding the reporting and verification of statewide greenhouse gas emissions.

This September in a Joint Decision by the California Public Utilities Commission and the California Energy Commission, the CPUC and the CEC stated "AB 32 governs statewide GHC emissions, including electricity consumed in California (including imports) and in-state generation that is exported out of California."

The need to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions will create an increased appetite for renewable energy from Nevada. The cost to mitigate the emissions may well drive California to participate in the cost of the transmission necessary to deliver that renewable energy. This scenario would benefit Nevada rate payers.

California Energy Commission's Renewable Energy Transmission Initiative

(RETI)

RETI was created to help identify the transmission project needed to accommodate California's aggressive renewable energy goals. RETI will "...assess all competitive renewable energy zones in California and possibly also in neighboring states that can provide significant electricity to California consumers by the year 2020." 

In a presentation made during RETI's September 30, 2007 Kick-Off meeting of the Plenary Stakeholder Collaborative, Phase 1 of the Scope of Work was identified as "...assessment of developable renewable resources in CA and neighboring states."

Federal Renewable Energy Zones

The proposed Clean Renewable Energy and Economic Development Act directs the President of the United States to identify areas of the country, especially rural areas, where renewable energy resources could generate at least 1,000 MW of electricity.

Under the legislation Federal power marketing administrations, like the Western Area Power Administration (WAPA) would have a year to identify the types of high-voltage or interconnection lines needed to access the renewable power in those zones. If, after two years, no private entities step forward to fund the construction of the lines, then WAPA and the four other Federal power administrations would each be granted an additional $10 billion in bonding authority to finance the lines.

The legislation limits Federal financing to lines that carry at least 75 percent renewable electricity, and applies the same limitation to any new lines to be built across Federal land.

The estimated cost of the transmission line connecting Nevada's northern and southern grids is about $600 million. This line, recommended by Governor Gibbons' Renewable Energy Transmission Access Advisory Committee, would allow Nevada Power Company to access northern Nevada's geothermal and wind resources, and Sierra Pacific Power Company to access southern Nevada's solar resources.

Energy Transportation Corridors

The Energy Policy Act of 2005 required the Secretaries to designate energy transport corridors on Federal land for oil, gas, and hydrogen pipelines and electricity transmission and distribution facilities in portions of Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. 

Since the overwhelming majority of Nevada's land is owned by the federal government, this act may prove significant to the Nevada's efforts to develop its renewable resources.

Understanding how to integrate wind resources into the existing grid is important.

To help understand how to integrate wind into Nevada's system, the Nevada State Office of Energy worked with the Department of Energy to create the "Northwestern Consortia to Study the Regional Wind Development Benefits of Upgrades to Nevada's Transmission Systems" or the

Task 1: Wind Characterization in Nevada and Southern Idaho

Nevada and Idaho wind characterization teams will identify potential wind development areas in northern and central Nevada and southern Idaho and develop estimates of the wind energy potential at these areas.

Task 2: Transmission Studies in Eastern Nevada and Southern Idaho 

Transmission planners at Sierra Pacific Resources will complete transmissions studies to identify prospective transmission alternatives that provide the wind development areas identified in Eastern Nevada and Southern Idaho with access to the Mead trading hub.  The Mead trading hub is a major trading hub for southern Nevada, southern California, Arizona and New Mexico.  

Task 3: Transmission Studies In Western Nevada

Transmission planners at Sierra Pacific Resources will complete transmission studies to identify prospective transmission alternatives that provide the wind development areas identified in western Nevada with access to the Mid C and SP15 trading hubs via a tap of the DC Intertie.  Mid C and SP15 hubs are major trading hubs for the Pacific Northwest and Southern California respectively.

Task 4: Outreach Activities

The Nevada State Office of Energy will coordinate outreach activities to the project stakeholders.

Task 5: Drafting Of White Paper

The project participants will develop an Integrated Wind Energy and Transmission Report suitable for presentation to the Nevada Public Utilities Commission, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the Western Interstate Energy Board for the resource planning deliberations of these respective bodies.