EDITORIAL Renewable mandates

EDITORIAL: Renewable mandates

Apr 13 - Las Vegas Review - Journal

Two of the state's largest utilities say they won't be able to meet "renewable energy" mandates set by the Legislature. Both Nevada Power and Sierra Pacific are seeking exemptions from the requirements to avoid being fined.

This should come as no surprise -- and highlight how the marketplace, not government force, remains the fairest and most cost- effective mechanism for promoting progress and change.

The law mandated that the utilities get 5 percent of the power they sell from green power sources -- wind, geothermal, solar -- by 2004. That's supposed to increase to 15 percent by 2013.

But just as California lawmakers failed miserably in their efforts to set a timetable mandating that automakers meet a floor on electric car sales, heavy handed renewable energy requirements are bound to fail today -- or, even worse, lead to higher energy costs for consumers.

Fact is, a thriving market doesn't yet exist for renewables. No matter how many times the environmentalists and their legislative allies wave their magic wands, they can't change the laws of economics.

Grant the utilities their exemptions. Doing anything less is an exercise in futility.