Nevada’s clean-energy goals face new pressure as data centers expand
Nevada’s largest utility warned that proposed data-center projects could multiply electricity demand far beyond what the state has planned for, putting pressure on the grid and raising the likelihood of fossil-fuel backstops. NV Energy, which provides power to about 90% of the state, said it may need three times the electricity required to power Las Vegas in order to handle the load from data centers under consideration, and that meeting that need without fossil fuels may be difficult.
NV Energy’s warning connects the boom in AI-related computing facilities to the state’s clean-energy timetable. The utility said that outcome could put Nevada on track to miss its goal of reaching 50% renewable power by 2030, as utilities around the country struggle to meet sharply rising demand while trying to move away from fossil fuels.
Shawn Elicegui, NV Energy’s senior vice president of regulatory and resource planning, described the scale of the new demand interest from data-center developers. “I can’t remember a time in the history of the industry where we’ve seen as much interest in adding load, which is primarily driven by data centers,” Elicegui said.
The pressure is not confined to Nevada. The AP reported that in North Carolina, the largest utility is revising long-term plans to delay coal-plant retirements and to add more natural-gas generation after legislators removed an interim goal for utilities to cut carbon emissions, a change environmentalists said could jeopardize the state’s zero-carbon-by-2050 objective. The AP also reported that NextEra Energy dropped its zero-emissions-by-2045 goal in a recent business filing, citing “the demand for all forms of power generation.”
Nevada lawmakers, meanwhile, are weighing whether and how to regulate data-center growth to help ensure the state can keep pace with renewables. The AP reported that residents complained during a seven-hour legislative meeting about data-center noise and about potential impacts on water supply and energy bills, with opposition also reported from Boulder City, home of the Hoover Dam, against a proposed center.
Environmental groups and energy-policy advocates are arguing that data centers should help pay for clean-energy development rather than relying on the state to absorb the cost of meeting their power needs. Olivia Tanager, director of the Sierra Club’s Toiyabe chapter covering Nevada, said it is “very alarming” and “it’s probably the single largest natural resource issue of our time,” according to the AP. Dan Diorio, vice president of state policy for the Data Center Coalition, said the industry was responsible for half of all corporate clean-energy procurement in 2024, but added that renewable power’s contribution to the grid is not growing fast enough to meet the pace of new demand.
Even with those tensions, some operators are positioning themselves as examples of renewable-heavy models. Jason Hoffman, Switch’s chief strategy officer, said a major Southern Nevada facility that the company describes as spanning nearly a square mile runs entirely on renewable energy. Hoffman said Switch is licensed to build its own renewable resources at scale and that it has built 1 gigawatt of solar, while continuing to build more solar fields, with the company using NV Energy’s grid for delivery of electricity.
Switch’s operational approach, Hoffman said, is designed to reduce dependence on cooling energy from the grid during much of the year, while still scaling down grid use during peak summer conditions. The AP described Switch’s servers as operating inside large soundproof and waterproof chambers, with the data center’s client list including banks, streaming and online shopping services, casinos, and state and local governments.
The debate in Nevada also includes concerns about the contingency fuels used when power supply is interrupted. The AP reported that Tanager said proposed data centers in Northern Nevada would use hundreds of low-quality diesel-powered backup generators that would worsen air quality, noting that backup generators are available when power goes out and are not used often.
On the policy side, the AP reported that NV Energy requires data-center developers to fund their own infrastructure and energy needs but does not require that the power be renewable, while Nevada has used a voluntary funding model that lets companies contribute to NV Energy’s clean-energy development and count it toward corporate energy goals. The utility also said it plans to require companies to sign contracts to ensure their commitment to the state before energy is built, and it said the public utilities commission may impose a fine, grant an exemption, or take other action if it determines NV Energy failed to meet the state’s clean-energy goals.
Democratic Assemblymember Howard Watts said it is “unacceptable” to advance projects that could threaten Nevada’s renewable-energy portfolio. Watts said he wants data centers to take on the costs of clean-energy development and argued that putting guardrails in statute is necessary even as some companies already take steps. The AP reported Watts saying, “Building more gas plants seems like going in the exact opposite direction of what we need to do as a state,” adding that Nevada has “tremendous solar and geothermal energy potential.”