Voters in Arizona and Nevada faced an identical choice when they headed to the polls on Tuesday: Should their utility companies be required to get half of their energy from renewable sources by 2030?
The two electorates delivered different verdicts. Proposition 127 failed in Arizona amid what local news outlets are calling “the most expensive ballot fight” in the state’s history. Meanwhile, roughly 60 percent of voters supported Question 6 in Nevada, adopting the new renewables standard.
“Clean energy initiatives have always received strong support from voters here in Nevada,” says Andy Maggi, executive director of the Nevada Conservation League, which supported the measure.
Both Arizona and Nevada states are among the sunniest in the country: The National Renewable Energy Laboratory ranked Nevada and Arizona first and second, respectively, among U.S. states in solar power potential in 2006. And solar is just one element of a renewable energy portfolio that can also include power from wind, hydroelectric, and geothermal sources. Prior to adopting the more ambitious standard, Nevada had mandated that utility companies, like NV Energy, provide 25 percent of th... Read more
