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The legislature in the western US state of Nevada may be considering a proposal in April to increase its renewable portfolio standard (RPS) from the current 0.2 up to 15 percent by 2012, with at least 10 percent coming from solar. Senate Bill 372 calls for the state public utilities commission to establish an RPS in which 5 percent of annual electricity consumption comes from renewables by the end of 2002. The amount would increase by 2 percent every two years until the 15 percent mark is reached. Richard Harjo, aide to the committee's chairman, Sen. Randolph Townsend, says the 10 percent portion of the RPS to be derived from solar »is a little on the low side, in my opinion. I'm sure somebody's going to challenge that.« He says two PV companies, Duke Solar and Sterling Energy Systems, were scheduled to testify at the hearings at the end of March. Harjo describes the reaction from the state's two public utilities, Sierra Pacific and Nevada Power, as lukewarm »because it challenges the portion from their gas-fired plants.« He expects the proposed amendments to the current RPS will be approved by the Commerce and Labor Committee and sent to the legislature for a vote sometime in April. With Nevada feeling the effects of the California energy crisis, he thinks the bill has a good chance of passage. William
P. Hirshman
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