New street lights and water power explored for city

A private company under contract with Carson City to create jobs by developing a regional green power industry is exploring several programs from replacing street lights to a hydroelectric plant, officials said Friday.

The most promising project in the works for Energy Nevada, a company created by Princeton Development Corp. of California, is a hydroelectric operation using the water system from Marlette Lake.

"It has quite a bit of hydroelectric potential," said Steve Taber, president of Energy Nevada.

The company proposes to capture hydroelectric power at the Ash Canyon Water Treatment Plant, which treats water drawn from Marlette Lake for Carson City and Virginia City. The cost to update the water-delivery system, which already needs repairs, could be partially paid for by the hydroelectric power, Taber said.

The company may bring the proposal to city supervisors for approval in the next few months, but is waiting to hear from the state as to its involvement, Taber said.

"What we like about it, is that it's also something that accomplishes something for the community," he said.

Another idea that seems to be gaining momentum is for Energy Nevada to replace the city's street lighs with newer lights that provide whiter lumination. The newer lighting would save money, improve the appearance of the city, and create jobs, Taber said.

"We continue to study it; it looks very promising," he said.

Neighboring regional governments and entities have been recruited to join Carson City. Energy Nevada has met with several groups, including Carson City School District, Carson-Tahoe Hospital, Douglas County, Gardnerville Water Co., and Incline Village, Minden and Reno officials.

By adding more partners to the project, Carson City will be able to offer a bigger buying group to renewable energy providers who might be interested in building a project in the region, officials said.

"The purpose of creating the demand is (to realize) the ultimate goal of why we started this in the first place was to create a jobs program," said city economic development and redevelopment manager Joe McCarthy. "What's good for the region is good for Carson City."

Several other ideas are being tossed around, like installing a renewable energy project to provide lower-cost electricity to a low-income housing section of the city. Through a federal housing grant received by the city's development services department, Energy Nevada is conducting research that may help the city get a larger grant for the project.

The company has also talked with several wind power manufacturers to relocate foundries and other industry to the region.

"We haven't landed any big fish yet, but there's a sense we're gaining momentum, and we're getting the sense that people are finding Nevada a good place to be," Taber said.

The city contracted with Princeton Development Corp. in August. The deal gave Princeton exclusive rights to develop renewable energy projects for the city to create jobs and attract industry.

The contract obligates the city to buy renewable energy from Princeton projects for up to 10 years. The city must buy renewable energy from one of the company's projects, or compensate Princeton for development costs if it chooses to buy power from a similar project from another renewable power company.

If the city does not choose to approve projects delivered by Princeton, it can opt to stay with Sierra Pacific Power Co. and not be obligated to pay Princeton back for its costs.

City officials said they do not expect to save money on energy costs and may end up paying more for energy with the understanding that the industry will bring jobs and manufacturing to the city. The higher costs, some consider, would be considered a subsidy.

Energy Nevada will present an update on the program to city supervisors Thursday.

Contact Jill Lufrano at jlufrano@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1217.