Green-energy Grinch comes for Nevadans’ wallets

Every Who down in Whoville liked cheap, reliable energy a lot … But the Grinch, who lived just north of Whoville, did NOT! The Grinch hated cheap energy! The whole reliable energy season! Now, please don’t ask why. No one quite knows the reason.

With apologies to Dr. Seuss, in this version of the story, the Grinch isn’t just a lone scrooge. He’s all those green energy advocates who’ve promoted mandates such as Nevada’s renewable portfolio standard. It requires that the state obtain 50 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2030. The Legislature passed the mandate in 2019, and state voters enshrined it in the constitution in 2020.

“A strong RPS means a reliable grid,” claimed a 2019 information sheet from the Western Resource Advocates, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Sierra Club.

“And let us be clear: It will not be hard for Nevada to accomplish this goal,” then-state Sen. Chris Brooks testified in 2019. “We receive a lot more sunshine than most other parts of the country.”

Proponents of the 2020 constitution amendment also promised the increased standard “would save Nevadans money.”

These lines now look as believable as what the Grinch told Little Cindy Lou Who, who was not more than two.

“Why, my sweet little tot,” the fake Santa Claus lied, “There’s a light on this tree that won’t light on one side. So I’m taking it home to my workshop, my dear. I’ll fix it up there. Then I’ll bring it back here.”

Consider what has ensued over the past five years. NV Energy is building Greenlink, a massive transmission project that will move unreliable renewable energy around Nevada. Its price tag has gone from $2.5 billion to $4.2 billion. It’s so expensive that NV Energy wants ratepayers to pay on it for 70 years or more.

The company now wants to build a new natural gas plant near Winnemucca that would cost $573 million. It would be used when demand for power peaks. In 2022, utility officials proposed creating more natural gas power in Clark County for the same reason. And of course, they’re building new solar power plants and battery storage.

NV Energy is like Max, the Grinch’s dog. It may not have thought up the green energy push, but it’s happy to go along. NV Energy profits handsomely from these new construction projects. Ratepayers, on the other hand, are still waiting on that promised savings from the green pipe dream.

After hearing the Whos celebrate Christmas “without packages, boxes or bags,” the Grinch’s “small heart grew three sizes that day!” Unfortunately, the only thing Nevadans can expect to grow are their power bills.

The views expressed above are those of the Las Vegas Review-Journal.