Dina Titus Pushes Energy Plan For Nevada
Dina Titus Pushes Energy Plan For Nevada
April 5, 2006
RENO -Democratic gubernatorial candidate Dina Titus today unveiled an eight-point plan to stabilize utility rates, improve air quality and create new economic opportunities in Nevada through development of the state's rich store of renewable energy resources.
Dina Titus, in a news conference at the renewable energy-based Interpretive Gardens, also contrasted her long record of support for renewable energy against the records of Henderson Mayor Jim Gibson and Congressman Jim Gibbons in supporting status quo energy policies.
"Mayor Gibson is known as the half-million dollar man for the $527,000 he was paid by Nevada Power Company to help it fight a public takeover while utility rates were going through the roof in 2002," Dina Titus said. "He said last week he was committed to exploring' alternative energy sources. That's not good enough."
"We need concrete plans and a real commitment to making renewable energy the foundation for Nevada's energy future, even if that means bucking the power company Mayor Gibson worked for."
"Jim Gibbons has maintained the status quo by supporting tax breaks for utilities to continue producing energy from coal, natural gas and even nuclear energy," Dina Titus said.
Gibbons backed 2001 legislation that included $33.5 billion in energy tax breaks for utilities, oil companies and large businesses. In 2003, he supported an energy bill that authorized another $10.5 billion in tax breaks for the oil and gas industries, with additional benefits for electric utilities, including $167 million in tax credits to power companies if they build more nuclear power plants.
"Nothing in the records of Mayor Gibson or Congressman Gibbons indicates they will stand firm with Nevada's utilities and demand compliance with a state requirement that they produce 20 percent of their energy from renewable energy sources by the year 2015," Dina Titus said.
Despite a requirement since 1997 that utilities produce more of their power from renewable energy sources, not one commercial-scale renewable energy plant has come on line as a result of that Renewable Portfolio Standard.
"For Nevadans who are paying ever-higher utility rates, whose air quality is compromised by traditional power plants, and who can benefit from jobs created by a new industry, we need to force Sierra Pacific Power and Nevada Power to get serious about renewable energy, and make it the first choice rather than the last choice in Nevada's energy future," Dina Titus said, outlining the steps she will take as governor to make that a reality:
? Appoint a Public Utilities Commission that holds utilities accountable for meeting the Renewable Portfolio Standard requirement, imposing administrative fines each time they fail to meet yearly requirements.
? Convene a Renewable Energy Summit within the first 100 days of her administration, bringing together business, renewable energy, utility and rural economic development representatives to set the state's course in pursuing the renewable energy alternative, including plans for integrating the use of renewable energy systems in residential and commercial construction in Nevada, with financial incentives for developers who incorporate renewable energy into their projects. As part of this strategy, Dina Titus also will push to incorporate renewable energy into construction of new public buildings in Nevada.
? Change the name of the Nevada State Office of Energy to the Nevada State Office of Renewable Energy to emphasize the new direction of the state in promoting and developing its alternative energy resources, with the office helping to implement the goals of the Renewable Energy Summit.
? Forge research partnerships between the state's universities and private interests to lower the cost of producing energy from renewable resources and develop a Nevada renewable energy manufacturing industry. Dina Titus' goal is to attract a major manufacturing facility within her first term as governor.
? Promote renewable energy as a stabilizing influence on utility rates, based on refinements in technology and economies of scale as more renewable energy plants come on line to take advantage of the free fuel from sunlight, wind and geothermal energy.
? Promote renewable energy as the preferred alternative to building more coal-fired plants in Nevada that compromise air quality and use vast quantities of scarce water resources, using power from renewable energy plants to reduce the size or eliminate the need for coal-fired plants.
? Develop a renewable energy industry in Nevada that creates high-paying technical and construction jobs in rural Nevada, and spawns new supply and distribution facilities serving that new industry in the state's metropolitan areas.
? Export clean renewable energy from Nevada to other western states after the state's renewable energy industry has expanded beyond meeting the needs of Nevadans, creating a new source of revenue to support education and other needs of the state.
Dina Titus, working with Senator Randolph Townsend and former Consumer Advocate Tim Hay, has sponsored successful measures in the Nevada Legislature promoting renewable energy since 1993, including creating tax incentives for its development and allowing consumers to install their own solar generation systems and sell power back into the utility grid. She believes the Solargenix solar plant under construction in the Eldorado Valley of Southern Nevada can be a template for attracting similar large-scale renewable energy developments to Nevada which can also serve as a key component of economic development in rural Nevada.
"Like so many other Nevadans, I've always been committed to tapping our abundance of solar, geothermal and wind power to produce clean, home-grown power," Dina Titus said. "As governor, I will bring together our universities, renewable energy developers and Nevada's utilities to make Nevada's renewable energy resources a cornerstone of our state's future and a leader for the nation in energy policy."
http://www.dinatitus.com/index.php?section=news&id=558