The Sierra Club released its sixth annual Dirty Truth Report on Tuesday, assessing utility companies across the nation based on their coal retirement plans, natural gas expansion strategies, and renewable energy development. The report examined NV Energy, which operates two subsidiary utilities serving nearly all residential customers in Nevada: Sierra Pacific Power Company in the north and Nevada Power in the south.
For the previous five years, both territories had received positive ratings for their clean energy initiatives. This year, however, marks a significant decline, with Sierra Pacific receiving a D grade—the lowest score the company has received since the Sierra Club began its tracking efforts. The deterioration in ratings correlates with dramatic changes in the utility’s infrastructure plans. Sierra Pacific now projects building over 2.7 gigawatts of new gas-fired capacity by 2035, representing a fourfold increase from projections made just one year earlier. This expansion is being driven by the rapid growth of artificial intelligence data centers in northern Nevada, which currently account for 5 percent of NV Energy’s sales but are projected to represent 64 percent of sales by 2046.
NV Energy has proposed protections designed to ensure data centers cover their own costs and prevent ratepayers from bearing the financial burden of their energy demands. However, these safeguards have not yet been implemented, and state regulatory testimony indicates significant gaps remain in the company’s proposals. This situation is particularly concerning given that Nevada Power, NV Energy’s southern subsidiary, recently agreed to refund $65 million to customers after overcharging them over a two-decade period.
The utility’s planned trajectory conflicts with state policy objectives. In 2020, Nevada voters approved measures strengthening the state’s Renewable Portfolio Standard, which mandates that utilities source 50 percent of energy from renewable sources by 2030. NV Energy has acknowledged that it now anticipates failing to meet this requirement. Environmental advocates contend that the utility should prioritize expanding clean energy infrastructure while implementing robust customer protections rather than investing in additional fossil fuel generation capacity.
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