Nevada regulators have approved NV Energy’s clean transition tariff (CTT), a framework developed in partnership with Google that will allow the utility’s existing large-load customers to receive power from new clean energy resources.

The Public Utilities Commission of Nevada (PUCN) approved the tariff March 11 after parties to the proceeding reached an agreement resolving their issues.

Under the agreement, one element of the tariff was left out of the commission’s approval: the base CTT rate model. That will be submitted for approval in a future integrated resource plan, or an IRP amendment, filed by NV Energy.

The commission said in its order that it won’t accept applications to take service under the new tariff until the base CTT model is filed.

Data Center Power

Google started working with NV Energy on the clean transition tariff as it looked for ways to power its northern Nevada data center with clean energy. Google has set a goal of running all its data centers and office campuses on 100% carbon-free energy by 2030.

Companies including Google that are seeking clean power have been buying electricity directly from energy developers. But those purchases often are “isolated from broader grid planning,” Google said in a blog post announcing the clean transition tariff.

“The CTT provides a novel and important opportunity for NV Energy and its customers to bring corporate investment capital into alignment with the utility planning process,” energy economist Carolyn Berry said in testimony filed with the PUCN on behalf of Google.

To power its northern Nevada data center, Google set its sights on an enhanced geothermal energy project from Fervo Energy. Without Google’s involvement, NV Energy wouldn’t have included the project in its IRP due to its cost, according to regulatory filings.

But through the CTT, Google plans to cover any premium costs of energy from the Fervo project to prevent cost-shifting to other customers.

During the long-term energy supply period, Google will pay a fixed price for energy from the 115-MW Fervo project. The entire output of the Fervo resource will go to Google. The data center is expected to need even more energy, which NV Energy will provide at a variable rate.

Existing Customer Benefit

The clean transition tariff is modeled on NV Energy’s Large Customer Market Price Energy tariff. The LCMPE tariff is available only to new customers; the CTT is a way to offer a similar arrangement to the utility’s existing customers.

The CTT is available to customers with an average annual hourly load of 5 MW or more, based on a 12-month rolling average. It applies to a clean energy resource that previously hasn’t been approved.

To use the CTT, NV Energy must file an energy supply agreement (ESA) as part of an IRP or an IRP amendment, or around the same time as those filings. The ESA then must be approved by the PUCN.

The ESA term must be as long as the life of the new resource.

NV Energy filed an ESA for Google to receive electricity from the Fervo project in June 2024, around the same time the utility filed its most recent IRP.

Two other ESAs linked to the CTT also were filed in June.

Under one agreement, Coeur Rochester would receive electricity from solar and battery storage projects for its mining, crushing and processing operations in Pershing County.

The other agreement involves solar and battery storage resources used to power the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority’s offices and the Las Vegas Convention Center.