Groundbreaking celebrates One Nevada transmission line

It was a ground-breaking for what utility officials say is a ground-breaking project.

Political leaders and power executives gathered Tuesday at NV Energy's under-construction Harry Allen Generating Station in Apex, about 20 miles north of Las Vegas, to celebrate the launch of the One Nevada transmission line (ON Line). The 500-kilovolt line will marry Nevada's northern and southern grids and bring renewable energy from rural areas into the state's urban markets. But ON Line's biggest contributions to Nevada will come in job formation and export potential, those at Tuesday's event agreed.

Start with those jobs: ON Line will generate 400 construction positions during its building, and will yield indirect jobs tied to the rural renewable-energy development for which ON Line will create markets.

"The hundreds of Nevadans who will work on this line will help us unleash Nevada's clean-energy potential, and will help us connect the northern and southern ends of our state," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. "These are good-paying jobs that can never be outsourced. This line will soon start to employ Nevadans, and it will always employ Nevadans."

Reid also predicted that ON Line would help make Nevada "energy-independent," with no need for energy imports, in three years. Plus, he said, the line will eventually enable the Silver State to export renewable power to California, where laws require the state to obtain a third of its power from clean sources by 2020.

U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar called ON Line's launch "monumental," and said it was "a great day" for Nevada's citizens.

"The time is here in making the new energy frontier a reality, in creating jobs for the people of Nevada, and in making sure that our economic and environmental security are protected in the 21st century," Salazar said.

NV Energy will build and own the $510 million ON Line in a partnership with Great Basin Transmission, an affiliate of New York-based grid developer LS Power. NV Energy will own 25 percent of the line, while Great Basin will own 75 percent, though NV Energy will buy Great Basin's share in a long-term agreement.

Michael Yackira, chief executive officer of NV Energy, called ON Line "a critical element of Nevada's energy future."

"Transmission infrastructure is essential to provide more opportunities for renewable energy and its development in Nevada," Yackira said. "With the enormous amount of geothermal that exists in the northern part of our state that has yet to be developed, ON Line will make these additional renewable resources a reality for the benefit of Nevadans throughout the state."

Added Mike Segal, chairman of LS Power: "ON Line will improve the reliability and efficiency of the Western power grid and connect renewable resources to customers who want them and need them."

The U.S. Department of Energy agreed Monday to guarantee $350 million in loans for Great Basin's share of the line's construction. NV Energy will bring $130 million in funding to the table, including $60 million in equity from investors and $70 million in debt.

ON Line is the largest transmission project to receive funding from the Department of Energy's stimulus funds.

"Nevada's families and businesses need a strong, reliable grid that can leverage the renewable energy the state has to offer, and the ON Line project does just that," said Jonathan Silver, the agency's executive director of loan programs.

Silver added that Nevada is key to the Obama administration's plans to double the nation's green-energy output by 2012. ON Line is the 20th project overall to receive financial assistance through the department's loan-programs division; the bureau's $25 billion in loans and guarantees also includes $80 million for the Blue Mountain geothermal project in Humboldt County.

But it's ON Line that will allow Las Vegans to tap into Blue Mountain's power.

ON Line began as two distinct but similar projects that LS Power and NV Energy were pursuing separately. In January, the companies announced they'd join forces and build one line, which will run 235 miles from Apex to Ely. LS Power will later build separate spurs linking ON Line to grids in Idaho and California.

Contact reporter Jennifer Robison at jrobison@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4512.

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Comments

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1. Darren.E Jun. 3, 2011 | 7:33 a.m. Report Abuse

   "Harry Reid has nothing to do with creating these jobs. Quit grandstanding dirty Harry. So typical of a democrat to claim this and adviod admitting the desasters they (HE) have brought about the last two years. He is such a sleeze bag."
   
   
   That's just not true desertowl, I was involved in this as well and let me tell you that without Harry Reid this would have never happened. And that is a fact!

2. desertowl Oct. 20, 2010 | 11:37 a.m. Report Abuse

   Harry Reid has nothing to do with creating these jobs. Quit grandstanding dirty Harry. So typical of a democrat to claim this and adviod admitting the desasters they (HE) have brought about the last two years. He is such a sleeze bag.

3. Deep.Thoughts Oct. 20, 2010 | 10:40 a.m. Report Abuse

   The RETAAC that gibbons supported back in 2007, suggested a transmission line from Vegas to Elko that would 'tie-in' Northern and southern power lines. The thought is it would share energy cost options in both sections of Nevada and allow renewables an access point along the way. Will it be cost effecient? No public studies have been accessable to me. Nevads will be paying for this with higher tax rates. Expect your energy bill to raise. Is it important, I say yes. It is important for future growth and it does update our electrical infrastructure. NOW WE PROMOTE IT! Push nuclear and natural gas plants NOW!

4. Tom.Reynolds Oct. 20, 2010 | 10:18 a.m. Report Abuse

   @ Teresa.Crawford: Great! Glad to hear it! Then you won't mind explaining specifically which of these "many solutions...for storage of renewables" this particular "smart grid" will use? Or, at least, give me a specific reference where I can find that out for myself? I'm interested because I have never heard anyone else say that "many solutions" exist. Even National Geographic, for example, disagrees with you. Once again, Teresa, I'm not saying that I am opposed to alternative renewable energy. And I'm certainly not saying that I am some sort of conservative dinosaur, dogmatically afraid of change of any sort. What I am saying is that we need an orderly, systematic transition to renewables. What we DON'T need is to "put all our eggs in one basket," or "burn all our bridges behind us," without even "looking before we leap."

5. Moe.Greene Oct. 20, 2010 | 9:58 a.m. Report Abuse

   Thanks for the temp jobs, Harry. Oh wait, you had nothing to do with this. The feds merely provided a loan guarantee.
   
   OK, another example of Reid taking credit for something good while not manning-up when things go bad.
   
   Retirement is coming, Harry. Tick tock. Only two weeks before you are voted out and have to go hat in hand to your friends begging for a paying job.

6. Teresa.Crawford Oct. 20, 2010 | 9:51 a.m. Report Abuse

   Many solutions exist for storage of renewables; check your favorite search engine. This isn't just a transmission line but a smart grid with storage capabilities. I've read that many people viewed the steam engine and first mass-produced Ford automobile with trepidation, too. Change is hard, but what is the alternative? Continued reliance on outmoded technology and dwindling fossil fuel? As far as I know, no nuclear company has ever applied for a license to build in Nevada, so that's not really on the table.

7. Tom.Reynolds Oct. 20, 2010 | 8:19 a.m. Report Abuse

   @ Teresa.Crawford: PS - a power utility HAS to supply a certain amount of power to the customers it serves. If part of that power comes from intermittent, unreliable sources like wind, then it has to have one or more backup sources in case the wind stops blowing. Those backup sources are usually conventional, like gas or coal or (gasp) the evil demon nuclear power. So again, alternative renewable sources like wind or solar certainly help. I won't argue about that. But to say that they can entirely replace conventional sources in three years is simply nonsense. I'm still waiting for someone to provide a factual basis for such outrageous claims.

8. Deep.Thoughts Oct. 20, 2010 | 8:18 a.m. Report Abuse

   @Tom, thank you. You hit the nail square on the head.

9. TONY Oct. 20, 2010 | 8:00 a.m. Report Abuse

   JUST IN TIME FOR RE-ELECTION...............

10. Tom.Reynolds Oct. 20, 2010 | 7:16 a.m. Report Abuse

    @ Teresa.Crawford: Don't get me wrong. I would love to see renewable energy work out as a viable new inustry for Nevada. But at the same time I would strongly discourage ANYBODY from entering a new career field or investing in a new industry without first doing their due diligence. Trusting something because you want it to be true is always a recipe for disaster. For one thing, as I have asked before, what about when the sun isn't shining (like at night) or the wind isn't blowing? What then? Solar and wind will be intermittent, unreliable sources until someone invents a reliable, cost-effective large scale battery technology. Period. Second, geothermal basically works through heating water by circulating it underground near a heat source. What are you going to do for water in northern Nevada, which is still a desert? Third, I still haven't seen anyone run the numbers about how renewable energy can be made cost-competitive. Until then, what we have is basically a captive market where customers are legally forced to buy what we are selling them. I once had a boss who referred to that sort of thing as a "self-licking ice cream cone."

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