By MIKE DONAHUE
Moapa Valley Progress
The Energy Choice Initiative (ECI) that may ultimately result in changing the state Constitution to allow Nevadans to select their own electricity providers is a positive step that voters should approve in the November election, according to Bradley Mayer of Argentum Partners, a government affairs firm representing the initiative.
Mayer, who promoted the ECI to the Moapa Valley Chamber of Commerce last Wednesday, said that while some in the state have voiced objections to the initiative, the positives far outweigh any opposition.
“We know there are some concerns in areas of rural co-ops (like Overton Power District) (but) a lot of what energy choice is about in a lot of ways is not going to directly affect you,” Mayer told the chamber luncheon. “At its core it very simply does two things: it eliminates electric generation monopolies in the state of Nevada and it requires the Legislature to provide for an open and competitive retail electric supply market by July 1, 2023.”
The initiative was passed by 73 percent of the voters in the 2016 election, Mayer said. Because it will actually alter the Nevada Constitution it has to pass again in 2018 to go into effect.
Known as Question 3 on the 2018 ballot, the ECI “establishes that every customer has the right to choose the provider of its electric utility service, including but not limited to selecting providers from a competitive retail electric market or by producing electricity for themselves or in association with others, and shall not be forced to purchase energy from one provider,” he said.
“Ultimately for us, ECI is about NV Energy,” Mayer said. “ECI only does two things including banning energy monopolies. So, basically, do you want NV Energy to have a monopoly for 90 percent of the Nevada population? That’s really the question.”
Mayer summarized the changes to the Nevada Constitution including:
“ECI creates a new framework for energy policy. Energy will be open and competitive, customers will be offered meaningful choices, regulation and economic burden will be minimized;
“It creates new rights for Nevadans including the right to choose among electric providers, the right to access a competitive market, a right to self-generate like rooftop solar and a right to join with others to cooperatively produce and/or procure electricity (in association with others);
“Finally ECI creates new mandates for the Legislature, which has to establish laws and regulations by July 1, 2023. There’s a duty to provide for safe, reliable, competitively-priced renewable energy, a duty to set up customer protections, a duty to prohibit monopolies and exclusive franchises.”
Although Mayer assured chamber members that electricity prices would remain low for Moapa Valley residents, three OPD representatives attending the meeting said that there is no guarantee that would be the case.
“While we (OPD) have not taken a position (on the ECI) we do have concerns for our customers,” said Aaron Walker of the OPD. “There are questions that nobody has been able to answer at this point. There is no guarantee the rates will remain what they are now if the initiative passes. That’s the big question and one of our major concerns.”
Mayer said that while the amendment does not create an open and competitive retail electric market, it does require the Legislature to provide by law for such a market by July 1, 2023. The freedom to choose your energy provider will result in increased competition, leading to more innovation, lower costs and enhanced customer service.
He added that in regard to power generated by Hoover Dam, “from our perspective, federal hydro must be protected for rural co-ops.”
ECI is also expected to help generate job growth because of its support of solar-generated power, Mayer said.
“Since Nevada is best positioned for solar, we’ve got all the advantages as it relates to where you build solar,” Mayer said. “And then if you join up with a wholesale market that includes being able to export to California then you are going to be able to build a ton of renewable here. Ultimately what that means is jobs.
“We haven’t broken it out to what it means to the rural communities,” Mayer concluded. “I would just assume that because of where the solar sites might be that there are going to be some built in the outlying areas. Rural are generally going to be the area looked to. But then you don’t know what’s going to happen until it happens.”
