Proceeds from Estuary Power’s recently completed Escape Solar and Storage project more than doubles MGM’s share of solar energy.
MGM Resorts International, which operates fourteen hotels on the Las Vegas Strip, will now receive power under a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA) from a recently completed 115 MW, 400 MWh energy storage facility in Lincoln County, Nevada, approximately 90 miles northeast of Las Vegas.
The 115 MW solar array is the latest addition to the Escape Solar and Storage facility, which was developed by site owner Estuary Power, with the solar farm built by Bechtel Infrastructure and Power Corporation and the battery energy storage facility built by Stiles Renewables. The facility has a total peak power of 185 MW and also serves Overton Power District No. 5, Caesars Entertainment and Wynn Las Vegas under long-term agreements.
In addition to the new PPA, MGM Resorts receives power from several other solar installations, including one Mega solar panel of 100 MW developed by Invenergy, an 8.3 MW rooftop array at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center, and a 100 kW rooftop array at the T-Mobile Arena.
The company says it can now power up to 100% of its daytime electricity needs on the Las Vegas Strip with solar energy. But it has set its sights on a higher goal.
“As this new project comes online, we are accelerating progress toward our goal of using 100% renewable electricity domestically by 2030,” said Bill Hornbuckle, CEO and president of MGM Resorts. “Together with our Mega Solar Array, the new Escape Solar and Storage Project reflects our focus on scalable, impactful clean energy solutions. It also demonstrates that our industry can operate more sustainably while providing long-term cost stability, strengthening our business and supporting a more resilient energy future.”
MGM Resorts first began purchasing power outside Nevada’s regulated energy market in 2016, after the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada (PUCN) the hotel group allowed to exercise retail energy choice NRS 704B. Several other major buyers of Nevada energy have similarly exited the market, but the process often results in high “exit costs” that limit the method’s appeal. These customers continue to receive distribution services from NV Energie, but purchase electricity from independent suppliers.
The state continues to allow only large energy buyers to exercise the right to purchase power from third-party suppliers. In 2018, a ‘yes’ vote on ballot question 3 would have required the state to establish a deregulated energy market in the state, but the measure was convincingly defeated by the public.
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