Cortez Masto, Rosen Announce Over $80 Million to Support Solar Power and Create Jobs in Pahrump

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) and Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will award the Valley Electric Association (VEA) $80.3 million to install a 37-megawatt solar power generation and storage system to serve Pahrump and the Fish Lake Valley region. This investment is part of the USDA's Powering Affordable Clean Energy (PACE) program, which was funded in part by the Inflation Reduction Act Cortez Masto and Rosen helped pass.

"Nevada is one of the solar capitals of the world, and this investment will deliver clean, reliable energy to rural Nevadans while lowering costs and creating good-paying jobs," said Senator Cortez Masto. "I was proud to help secure this funding, and to help establish the Rural Partners Network which has made it easier for Valley Electric and their local partners to access the resources they need to power the area."

"I was proud to help secure $80 million through the Inflation Reduction Act to expand access to solar energy in our rural communities," said Senator Rosen. "This solar project would create jobs for hardworking families in the area, help lower utility costs for households, and make our rural energy grid more resilient. I'll continue leading the fight to invest in clean energy and lower costs for all Nevadans."

"We are grateful and realize how fortunate we are to have successfully navigated this unbelievably competitive process. Since the summer of 2020 when the threat of rolling outages became a recurring summer event, power supply in the western markets has been extremely volatile. Access to affordable power in the early evening hours literally disappeared from the marketplace and we quickly realized we needed a solar & storage solution to mitigate the price volatility and grid resiliency risk. At that moment we began working on defining and developing our options. With the passage of direct pay legislation and cooperative access to the PACE initiative, our path to owning power supply assets became obvious. Your efforts and support in passing this legislation laid the foundation for Valley Electric receiving this award. It has truly been a team effort and we are grateful for your vision and leadership in bringing these opportunities to Valley Electric," said Mark Stallons, CEO of Valley Electric.

The Pahrump project would strengthen the energy grid, create good-paying jobs, lower rates for VEA members, and keep critical services powered in the region. It would produce enough electricity to power 3,500 homes. VEA serves communities participating in the Rural Partners Network (RPN), a USDA-led collaboration between federal, state and local partners to help underserved communities access federal funding. Senator Cortez Masto was instrumental in helping establish the RPN through legislation she passed in 2018 to help better leverage federal resources to support rural areas, and both senators worked to ensure Nevada was selected to participate in the program.

Senators Cortez Masto and Rosen have been strong supporters of Nevada's clean energy economy. They both helped pass the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which are making significant investments in Nevada's clean energy economy and the jobs it supports. Senator Rosen has also been a strong supporter of Nevada's solar industry, successfullyleading the charge, joined by Senator Cortez Masto, against solar tariffs that would have decimated the industry. Both Senators also helped secure vital extensions of the renewable energy investment tax credit and the residential renewable energy tax credit to boost solar energy and helped expand these tax credits in the IRA.

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