Group submits signatures to qualify Nevada RPS initiative for ballot
Nevadans for a Clean Energy Future, a group pushing a ballot measure to increase Nevada’s renewable portfolio to 50 percent by 2030, dropped off more than 230,000 signatures with state election officials Tuesday, making it highly likely that it will appear on the November ballot.
Statewide ballot measures are required to get more 112,544 signatures. At events in Las Vegas and Reno Tuesday, the campaign said it exceeded that requirement and expects the secretary of state to approve placing the question before voters in the general election.
By law, utilities and power providers within the state are required to source a portion of their energy portfolios from clean energy. The ballot measure would raise the current standard — 25 percent renewables by 2025 — to a 50 percent renewable standard by 2030. Legislators passed a similar policy during the session in Carson City last year, but the bill was vetoed by Gov. Brian Sandoval, who called it “commendable” but premature given the uncertainty created by the Energy Choice Initiative, an effort to restructure Nevada’s electricity market.
The ballot measure is being pushed, in part, by Democratic megadonor and former hedge fund manager Tom Steyer. According to The Nevada Independent poll released in April, voters approved of the ballot measure by a 68 to 20 percent margin.