NV Energy is working with a California power company to see if they can connect systems and share energy.
Las Vegas-based NV Energy announced Monday it is launching a joint project with California Independent System Operator Corp. to study the possibility of developing transmission facilities between their systems to share conventional and renewable energy resources.
The study could begin as soon as this month, NV Energy said.
The announcement comes less than two weeks after NV Energy President and CEO Michael Yackira said that his company had ended its “Renewable Transmission Initiative,” which aimed to bring hundreds of miles of new renewable power transmission lines to Nevada and California.
When that program was announced last June, NV Energy said the initiative could bring up to 570 miles of newly constructed, overhead electric transmission lines, as well as related facilities. During a July 27 conference call, Yackira said there was a “lack of response” — apparently from developers — to various aspects of the plan. He also said the program’s closure would not stop NV Energy from looking at other transmission opportunities, although he added that they were not yet “particularly defined.”
California ISO manages the flow of electricity across 80 percent of California’s power grid. The company matches buyers and sellers of electricity and says it works “to ensure enough power is on hand to meet demand.”
NV Energy serves 2.4 million Nevada residents, or about 90 percent of the state’s population.