John F wrote on December 31, 2007 06:09 PM: tim,

I think the answer to your question is here in Dave L.'s post. We already have enough electricity being generated here in Nevada; we only need to stop selling it to California.

Dave L wrote on December 31, 2007 03:34 PM: John F,

Thanks. Let's get back to basics ('back' is a relative term), and start with the precedent; what is Nevada's elctrical need in mega watts? 750MW is enough for 500,000 homes. Nevada Power/Sierra Pacific Power(NPSP) will be generating 2,800MW of electricity in six more months and that is enough for 1,866,666 homes-remember there are 2.6 m residents in Nevada. Seventy percent of this generation is by natural gas. NPSP does not like to rely on one energy sourcefor production so it is seeking, by 2015, to have 40% produced by coal, 40% by natural gas and 20% by renewable. nevadapower

However, "In April 2005, four western State governors agreed to pursue a new 1,300-mile high-capacity power line that would allow as much as 12 thousand megawatts of electricity to flow from Nevada, Utah, and Wyoming to California markets.." So, it is a corporate decision to create excess energy in Nevada to send to California
electrictygoingtocafromnv

According to State records from 2005, our summer peak electrical consumption is 8,714MW...but UNLV predicts that with a growth of population to 3.6m by 2024, we'll need an additional 17,523GWh. With geothermal production expectation of 2,895MW this future need will be met (matter of fact this production is 140% of this additional demand).

Currently, the Energy Information Agency reports that Nevada has 9,648MW of summer production capacity.....realnumbers

tim wrote on December 31, 2007 02:40 PM: If there are two power plants in Ely already and they replace them with two newer, cleaner plants, whats all the fuss about? Anybody notice their power bills going up every 6 mo.? Everybody wants to make a profit its part of buisness world. If it can lower my bills,go for it. The tree huggers are never going to be happy, you can forget about trying to please them. This state keeps growing,something has to be done, or should we just bury our heads in the sand and wait for ca.to unhook from the power grid.Fat chance people.

LittleBird wrote on December 31, 2007 12:57 PM: The truth is finally coming out. I have wondered why they don't build the plants were the source of the coal is, as they will have to transport the coal and pipe in water ( from whatever source ) from someplace. I didn't know if it was that Nevadas' tax system so cheap that it would be that lucrative for the power providers to pay the huge expense of transporting coal and water to the sites in Nevada, or some other political motive. I thought it would be cheaper and a lot more environmentaly feasible to build the plant at the coal source and run transmission lines through Nevada. Now I see it is political, and to keep the tax resources feeding into White Pine County, no matter what the pros and cons happen to be for our health and our expenses might be. Just more political BS manuvering at the taxpayers expense. Get rid of these self serving politicians. White Pine County needs some new management.

John F wrote on December 31, 2007 11:12 AM: Dave L. and Mr. Rossetti,

Outstanding posts. The White Pine County web site diesn't have any pictures of Ms. Bath, so I couldn't comment on what either she or her sister might be worth at current market prices.

That's a joke, for all you PC types out there.


I have to laugh at the editors' assertion that the LS Power Group wants to build these two plants because of they're concerned that we poor consumers might not have enough electricity. If there wasn't a substantial profit in it, they wouldn't do it no matter how much we need the power.

Grumpy,

You have a great point. Isn't this the sort of thing state utility regulators are supposed to be looking out for? Isn't our electric provider granted a monopoly in this state with the proviso that they safeguard the interests of Nevada (as in not California) consumers?

grumpy wrote on December 31, 2007 10:12 AM: It seems the greater issue is really electrical distribution rather than electrical generation.
We have the means to easily meet Nevada's needs if we stop selling to California. They have a coast. They have a lot more options for building their own plants, be they coal, gas, nuclear or hydro (using ocean tides, perhaps?) than do we in the desert.

Dave L wrote on December 31, 2007 08:44 AM: For those of you playing along at home, that'll be 1,600 megawatts and 15af = 24,000 af per year or 782,042,400 gallons of water. Do research under White pine Energy Associates.

Now multiply the above by 2, as Sierra Nevada, operating as the Ely Energy Center, is proposing a 1,500mw coal fired plant in Ely (15,640,848,000 gallons of water total).

And, as the Nevada Cattlemen just received a federal 'emergecny disaster' designation due to drought conditions up there, fifteen billion gallons of ground water a year is a relevant area of inquiry.

On the other hand, "White Pine County Clerk Donna Bath said the area desperately needs the power plants to boost tax revenue for local government because the area has been in receivership for 21/2 years." (Ely Times)....So, how much for your sister?

Joel Rossetti wrote on December 31, 2007 06:41 AM: Where you gonna get the water to cool that plant and replace evaporation of water? 15 acre feet of water per year per megawatt is what you will need. One acre foot of water = 325,851 gallons of water.