The Public Utilities Commission approved Switch’s plan for a 510-megawatt natural gas power plant on a 20-acre site at the former Sierra Biofuels Refinery in the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center. The plant will use nine gas turbines and is expected to begin construction in the first quarter of 2027, finishing in 2029. During construction, it would use 10,000 to 20,000 gallons of water per day, and 145 acre feet, or 47 million gallons, annually during its life cycle.
The project was initially filed in June by Nexus Fulcrum LLC, which identified only an unnamed “single off-taker.” In October, Switch disclosed it is both “the intended off-taker” and the “ultimate owner” of the plant. The commission approved the project Tuesday during a regular agenda meeting despite significant pushback.
Developers are increasingly proposing behind-the-meter power plants to bypass the long queue for grid connections. “The reason why people are doing the behind-the-meter power is because it’s a way to short-circuit that,” said Jonathan Koomey, an energy researcher and founder of Koomey Analytics. He noted gas turbines are the fastest option to get centers running, but “not the cheapest — and definitely the dirtiest.”
NV Energy does not have the infrastructure to immediately serve the large number of data centers interested in the region. The utility projects data centers will grow from 5 percent of electricity sales today to 64 percent by 2046. If projected demand materializes, systemwide generating capacity needed could exceed 20 gigawatts by 2050, roughly double the existing and approved capacity through 2050.
In September, the commission approved two temporary natural gas plant requests from Fleet Data Centers totaling 362 megawatts, also over hours of public opposition.
Sources: Las Vegas Review-Journal
Original reporting: Las Vegas Review-Journal →
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