On June 3, 2013, the Department of the Interior approved the construction of two solar fields in the Colorado River valley and a geothermal plant in Lovelock, Nev., in the heart of the Great Basin. This is the first approval of renewable energy source construction on public lands by Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell since she took office in April 2013.
The plants will be able to power 200,000 homes and ease the energy demands of cities such as Reno and Las Vegas, Nev., as well as their surrounding suburbs. Combined, they produce 520 megawatts of power.
This is incredibly important to Las Vegas because of its dependence on heavy electricity use for light shows, neon and moving water from the Colorado River to the middle of the desert. A good portion of Nevada’s power also comes from the hydroelectric Hoover Dam, which this will help to ease the load on and use the ample sun resources to be found in the Great Basin and the Colorado River Valley. However, many plants in the Las Vegas area still use coal or natural gas in order to generate power, such as the Edward W. Clark Generating Station in Las Vegas.
The sites and names of the solar plants are the Quartzite Solar Project in Quartzite, Ariz., and the Midland Solar Energy Project in Boulder City, Nev. These plants produce 100 megawatts and 350 megawatts respectively. The New York Canyon Geothermal Project is the 70 megawatt geothermal plant located in Lovelock, Nev., and servicing Reno and the surrounding areas.
In the opposite corner of the country, similar trends are developing amongst the energy fields. Off of Rhode Island Sound and Martha’s Vineyard, the Federal government is auctioning off 165,000 acres of sea space for wind turbines. This will help to power Rhode Island, Boston and the South Coast region of Massachusetts.
Edited by Alisen Downey