The Nevada Energy Landscape

Clean Energy: 

• Renewable energy currently supplies ~30% of Nevada’s electricity needs, and Nevada has a state-mandated goal of sourcing 100% of its electricity needs from zero-carbon sources by 2050 and a net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions target by 2050. 
• Nevada is a leader in the nation in geothermal and solar electricity generation, ranking second in overall geothermal generation and first in per capita solar generation. 
• Nevada has significant untapped solar, geothermal, wind, and energy efficiency resources that are cost-effective to developed. 
• Nevada plays a critical role in the  battery supply chain that powers electric vehicles and energy storage for the grid. In addition to being the home of a major battery manufacturing plant and a battery recycling facility, Nevada is home to the only operating lithium mine in the US and holds the largest known reserve of lithium in the nation.

Electricity Regulation and Markets: NV Energy is the utility that provides 88% of the state's electricity needs, and the remainder of the state is served by rural electric utilities. NV Energy participates in the California ISO's real-time market known as the Energy Imbalance Market (EIM). In 2021, Nevada's legislature passed a law requiring the state's utilities to join an organized, competitive wholesale electricity market by 2030. These markets, known as RTOs and ISOs, serve two-thirds of the US, and help drive electricity costs down, increase grid reliability, and integrate more renewables onto the grid. 

Economy & Jobs: Nevada is one of the fastest-growing states by population in the US, and is consistently ranked as one of the most business-friendly states due to its large and high quality workforce, lack of income tax, strategic location, low-cost real estate, and low utility rates. The clean energy sector employs nearly 33,000 people in Nevada, and this number is growing. The top industries by employment are: energy efficiency, battery energy storage, and solar. 

Tribes: Nevada is home to 27 Nevada Tribes, bands, and colonies with approximately 1,500 square miles of land. Nevada's Tribal lands are home to several renewable energy projects that generate clean, low-cost electricity and support high quality jobs, including two utility-scale solar PV project currently under development on Moapa Band of Paiutes Tribal land.

Other: 

• Two-thirds of the state of Nevada by acreage is public lands. 
• Nevada sources approximately 85% of its energy from out-of-state. 
• One of the nation’s largest federal hydroelectric facilities, Hoover Dam, is on Nevada's border with Arizona, and meets approximately 5% of Nevada's electricity needs. 
• The Nevada Geological Survey provides useful maps and data. 
• Learn more about energy programs and trends in the state in the annual status of energy report from the Nevada Governor's Office of Energy.