Boulder City's solar power plant on the road to Laughlin, Copper Mountain Solar 1, will soon be joined by a second power plant being built by Sempra Energy of California. The Las Vegas Sun reported the second plant, Copper Mountain Solar 2, will produce three times the amount of energy as the original power plant in the desert just outside of Boulder City, Nev.
Boulder City will not receive the power from the solar generating plant. The power generated will transmit through existing power lines to California, where it will provide power to 45,000 homes. The project is privately funded and the cost has not been disclosed to the public.
Although Boulder City will not directly benefit from the power generated from the new solar power plant, it is setting the tone for future development of the valley as the alternative energy capital of the Southwest. Copper Mountain Solar 2 will come on line in January 2013 and it is just the beginning.
Solar energy is not the only form of energy featured in Boulder City. A wind energy power plant substation is also being built in Boulder City. It will be part of a 750-mile project that will supply power to homes from Cheyenne, Wyo., to Phoenix.
The Las Vegas Review Journal featured a story on the project in March. The project will add 200 construction jobs to the Boulder City area and it will provide power to 1.8 million homes in Nevada, Arizona and California.
Boulder City and Las Vegas are just two cities in Nevada that have been on the leading edge of the solar power boom. Up north in Tonopah, Nev., there is another project headed by Solar Reserve. On Wednesday, Solar Reserve announced its project would include a workforce made up of 90 percent Nevada residents.
The project will receive the green light in September and begin construction soon after. The project will put 600 people to work and will generate 4,300 direct and indirect jobs once completed.
Tonopah is a small town in the middle of Nevada which has fallen on hard times since the turn of the century. The new solar project is a welcome addition to town which is home to 3,517. Tonopah receives much of its business from drivers traveling between Las Vegas to Reno and Lake Tahoe.
Todd Jacobs is a Las Vegas resident with extensive knowledge and contacts in the city and surrounding areas of Nevada. To contact Todd with a potential news story about Las Vegas or Nevada email him or direct message him on Twitter @LVIIToddJacobs.
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