"Nevada Voters Approve Renewable Energy Mandate"

"Nevada voters approved a constitutional amendment Tuesday that requires the state to get at least half its electricity from renewable sources by 2030.

Voters gave the final OK to Question 6, known as the Nevada Renewable Energy Standards Initiative, by a margin of 56%-44%. Nevada constitutional amendments require voters to approve the measure twice. The initiative gained initial approval from nearly 60% of voters in 2018.

The now-approved ballot initiative was proposed by a group backed by billionaire environmentalist and onetime Democratic presidential hopeful Tom Steyer. Question 6 amends the state's constitution to boost the state's renewable portfolio standard, or RPS, to require utilities to draw 50% of their power from renewable sources by 2030.

The initiative doesn't stipulate what type of renewable energy must be used but mentions solar, wind and geothermal as generation options. Supporters of the ballot initiative argued that as one of the sunniest states, Nevada shouldn't be spending roughly $700 million a year to import energy derived from fossil fuels from other states when it could produce its own."

Morgan Conley reports for Law360 November 4, 2020.

Source: Law360, 11/05/2020