Sierra Pacific Power Co. has signed an agreement to buy 20 megawatts of geothermal electric power from the ORNI 7 Galena generating plant at Steamboat near the Mount Rose junction.
"This contract with ORNI 7 is especially welcome since it marks another entry into the all-important area of renewable energy sources," said Roberto Denis of Sierra Pacific.
The contract also helps the power company get a bit closer to meeting the state mandate that electric providers increase use of renewable energy to 2 percent every other year until they have 15 percent renewable power in their total energy sales by 2013. The law also requires that solar power account for 5 percent of the total renewables.
Sierra Pacific currently gets 10 percent of its total power from renewable sources, one of the highest percentages of all utilities in the nation, according to utility officials.
- Appeal Capitol Bureau