December 13, 2007
LC Power and Silver State Energy

By Dave Maxwell

The Silver State Energy Association has adopted an agreement to begin resource planning and evaluation on behalf of participating members, of which Lincoln County Power is one.

LC Power Engineer, Dave Luttrell, said that the members are obligated to pay one-quarter of the share of effort; however, a member can opt out if they feel the direction the Association is taking is not right for them. Luttrell said the project is a three-phase process that will occur in multiple stages over the next several years.

He said Silver State will look first at evaluating resources, options and technologies. Evaluating parameters and selecting specific sites and locations would be the second and third phase.

Silver State Energy Association is comprised of five members: Overton Power District, SNWA, City of Boulder City, Colorado River Commission of Nevada, and the Lincoln County Power District. The purpose of the group is to find, and develop, alternate generation sources for the region since the third planned coal-fired power plant in Delta, Utah has been cancelled.

Luttrell noted that Phase I has already been completed, primarily by SNWA, and he said they are willing to share the information with other Association members for the small cost of $5,000.

Lincoln County Power joined the Association Luttrell noted, “Where we are a relatively small utility in comparison to others, it’s very hard for us to go out individually and develop big transmission assets and generation assets which we are needing as we continue to grow. By being involved in Silver State Energy Association, we’re basically able to leverage smaller utilities of southern Nevada to put our capabilities together to essentially create a larger utility for resource development and transmission development.”