Technology Drives Northern Nevada Utilities & Business Climate
Businesses in northern Nevada enjoy many advantages over those in neighboring states, but perhaps the most overlooked and taken-for-granted amenities are reliable and affordable utility services for electricity and natural gas.
Disruptions to utility services or inadequate supplies can frustrate production, curtail expansion and otherwise impact a business’ bottom line. Reliability and availability are service missions for Sierra Pacific Power Company, as well as a competitive price that is historically below energy costs in California.
“Industry in general requires reliable power delivery,” said Grant Sims, manager of economic development for Sierra Pacific. “We have a very good track record in that area.”
And while power prices are competitive, Sims said that rates usually take second place to reliability.
“Pricing is critical to a small fraction of industry.” Sims said. “Most of the time, businesses are looking for the quality of power and natural gas service, and we do very well in that regard.”
Sierra Pacific goes beyond energy production and supply to promote economic growth. The company recently launched a comprehensive research tool on its website, Geographic Real Estate and Office Industrial Database (GRID). Visitors to http://econdev.sierrapacific.com/sppc/ can access listings for all commercial, industrial and office properties available in Sierra Pacific Power’s territory.
In addition to superior energy, businesses in the area have access to all major long distance and wireless carriers, as well as six interstate fiber optic networks. Carriers provide a wide array of telecommunications services that include local and long distance calling, video conferencing, Web hosting and other data transport services.
“The Truckee Meadows has complete SONET Fiber Optic technology covering the valley and readily available to all businesses in the area,” said Nancy McCormick, regional vice president of sales of AT&T Nevada. “The SONET technology contains self-healing traits that make it more reliable than traditional delivery methods.”
AT&T continues to build service offerings in rural areas to keep up with business growth.
“Last year alone,” McCormick said, “AT&T invested more than $29 million in the Nevada networks for projects that included bringing high speed Internet and fiber-based data services to customers.”
Technology also is the driving force behind much of the work undertaken by the Desert Research Institute (DRI), which provides high-end business research that supports regional efforts to attract new businesses to Nevada and helps existing companies thrive. One such project is the Computerized Automatic Virtual Environment, or CAVE, which allows scientists to create virtual models of their research — from the human heart to the engine of a working combine and beyond. The CAVE project is aimed at supporting scientific research and product commercialization, primarily in the atmospheric, hydrologic and ecological sciences.
DRI also is creating a business park and business incubator for technology and services firms, all in an effort to provide a competitive advantage to companies on a local, domestic and global level.
“The goal of this project,” said DRI President Stephen Wells, “is to assist and accelerate the development of successful high-technology startups in northern Nevada with assistance and access to DRI and University of Nevada, Reno facilities and laboratories.”
Clean Energy - Nevada's Standards Promote Clean Energy
It's well known that energy derived from geothermal, solar and wind resources is cleaner than its petroleum-based counterparts. But actually employing energy that’s good for the environment can sometimes be challenging.
Many state governments use portfolio standards to help the process along. These benchmarks require utilities to draw a percentage of power from renewable resources. Nevada’s standards show that it is serious about clean energy.
“Nevada has one of the most aggressive portfolio standards in the country, as approved in the 2005 special session of the Nevada Legislature,” said Jason Geddes, business development manager for EDAWN.
Today, the law requires that 9 percent of Nevada’s power comes from renewable energy and energy conservation. That percentage will ramp up gradually until it hits a ceiling of 20 percent in 2015.
Drawing energy from natural resources also can be cost effective.
“With petroleum-based energy prices on the rise, geothermal is actually cheaper,” Geddes said.
Fortunately, there’s no shortage of renewable energy in the area.
“Nevada has world-class geothermal resources,” said Carl Linvill, director of the Nevada State Office of Energy.
“We also have ample wind,” Linvill said, “and the solar resource is as intense as anywhere in the country.”
