Briefs

Gibbons press secretary leaving

Melissa Subbotin, press secretary to Gov. Jim Gibbons, announced Wednesday she will leave that post at the end of the month.

Subbotin, 27, has been with Gibbons four years, starting while he was a congressman representing Nevada in Washington D.C.

She said it was her decision to resign the position in order to pursue other career opportunities.

Report focuses on Nevada's energy

CARSON CITY (AP) - Nevada must rely on more than new coal-fired power plants to meet growing demands, according to a report authored by the state's former energy adviser and commissioned by the San Francisco-based Energy Foundation.

Carl Linvill, former Gov. Kenny Guinn's energy adviser and also a former Public Utilities Commission member, said a key element of a "flexible infrastructure" is a north-south power transmission line - regardless of whether a new coal-fired plant is built in eastern Nevada.

Linvill, now a consultant with Aspen Environmental Group, said Sierra Pacific Resources is delaying construction of its coal-fired plant near Ely due to federal permit "uncertainties," but it would be "a serious mistake" to let that slow down other projects.

Completing a north-south line by 2011 would connect Sierra's Sierra Pacific Power Co. in the north and its Nevada Power in the south, improve reliability of the electricity grid, and improve access to renewable energy projects around the state, Linvill's report states.

The report also says a review of Western planning reports finds that resources such as solar, geothermal and wind power "are expected to be cost-competitive with traditional gas and coal-fired generation."