Following up a previously stated desire to run off green and renewable sources, the city of Las Vegas, Nevada has effectively reached their goal.
Utilizing a vast array of solar panels, the 100-megawatt solar plant near Boulder City (named Boulder Solar 1) provides most of the energy needed to power the city's public sector -- that is, not including people's homes and businesses. That too, however, is on its way forward as solar panels are placed on homes and company rooftops; several casinos have also announced plans to move toward renewables (MGM Resorts, Wynn, and Las Vegas Sands as of reading the article sourced below). For some frame of reference on what the state normally produces, please look at the documentation on Nevada energy generation. The city has a 25-year contract to purchase 100 megawatts annually to feed into the grid. There also appears to be plans for the city to tap into the Hoover Dam, which despite being in the same state, Las Vegas has apparently never done so before.
Additional Source: The Independent
(Score: 3, Touché) by Rosco P. Coltrane on Monday December 26 2016, @04:22PM
Better to waste renewable energy on useless lighting than fossil fuel energy...
Seriously, if LV just curbed the waste of energy a bit, they wouldn't need giant solar farms.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by ikanreed on Monday December 26 2016, @04:47PM
If I had to guess, the city public works of Las Vegas doesn't participate in much of the wasteful glowiness, besides maybe the famous "Welcome to Las Vegas" sign.
But yeah, good luck convincing the president elect he needs less than 8 15000 lumen spotlights on his name on his casino.
(Score: 2) by butthurt on Monday December 26 2016, @08:43PM
Look at the way the city hall is lit.
http://www.yesco.com/specialtylighting/ [yesco.com]
https://player.vimeo.com/video/48598738 [vimeo.com] (Flash required)
http://cdn.archinect.net/images/1200x/no/nos00p5awgidn56n.jpg [archinect.net]
http://cdn.archinect.net/images/1200x/z0/z0tgto5dqcwh7n1v.jpg [archinect.net]
http://cdn.archinect.net/images/1200x/r3/r3qck53igfru5mpl.jpg [archinect.net]
https://web.archive.org/web/20161226203708/http://www.lasvegas360.com/?s=city+hall [archive.org]
(Score: 2) by butthurt on Monday December 26 2016, @08:45PM
From the last page I linked:
[...] its blue waterfall of LED lights, makes it look like water is pouring down the front of the building.
(Score: 2) by ikanreed on Monday December 26 2016, @08:51PM
Well, damn. I suppose that pretty much completely invalidates my argument, as it sticks a giant spiky fork in one of the core propositions.
Los Vegas government: the GGP was right, stop being so wasteful.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 27 2016, @02:27AM
Most of the casinos on the strip want to use solar. The ROI is probably *very* quick for them. They have been fighting it in court for years. At this point they are arguing only about cost.
http://www.inquisitr.com/3557507/las-vegas-goes-green-strip-casinos-leaving-nevada-power-grid/ [inquisitr.com]
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-06-10/buffett-s-power-play-pits-las-vegas-casinos-against-energy-unit [bloomberg.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 27 2016, @04:11AM
Thanks for these links, the Bloomberg article was a good read. Looks like NV hasn't done much to drain the swamp of lobbyists?
Like MGM and Wynn, casino operator Las Vegas Sands secured regulatory approval last year to leave NV Energy, but says it intends to stay—for now. Regulators determined Sands would have to pay $23.9 million to leave NV Energy, a sum the company indicated it thought was too high. Instead, Sands, controlled by Republican megadonor Sheldon Adelson, is backing a November ballot measure that would amend the Nevada constitution to deregulate the state’s energy market, doing away with NV Energy’s monopoly.
The rest of the article provides the necessary context...
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 26 2016, @04:50PM
From another article [popularmechanics.com]:
Las Vegas began its renewable energy project in 2008, reducing electricity usage through sustainability programs and installing solar panels on city buildings. Las Vegas will also receive power from Hoover Dam for the first time in its history, starting at the end of 2017.
The city has reduced its electricity usage by more than 30 percent due to these initiatives. Estimates place the city's yearly energy savings at approximately $5 million.