December 14, 2010

 Washington, DC – Nevada Senator Harry Reid’s office today released a new report detailing how the state’s clean energy sector could create thousands of jobs following passage of the tax relief legislation being debated in the United States Senate.
 
According to the report, the new tax cut legislation could make 14 Nevada solar, wind and geothermal projects eligible to receive Sec. 1603 Treasury Grants over the next year for the development of over 1,000 megawatts of clean renewable energy, creating more than 2,500 jobs.

Senator Reid personally inserted the additional funding for this grant program into the final tax relief legislation.

Six Nevada clean energy companies already received more than $122 million from the Sec. 1603 Treasury Grant Program for renewable energy projects, including three large geothermal plants in northern Nevada, and a large solar plant in Boulder City.

“Not only will this bill cut taxes for Nevada’s middle-class families and small businesses, it will create thousands of good paying clean energy jobs in Nevada that can’t be shipped overseas,” said Senator Reid. “Our state’s economic future depends on our ability to diversify our economy and take advantage of our abundant renewable resources like solar, wind and geothermal. I will continue fighting to put Nevadans back to work by ensuring we lead the nation in clean energy job creation.”

Statement from Kevin Smith, CEO of SolarReserve, LLC:

“The 1603 Treasury Grant Program has been crucial in helping accelerate renewable energy industry activities in the US, especially in light of the financial downturn and lack of tax equity investors. We are grateful that Senator Reid has been such a strong supporter of the program. This program will assist our project in Tonapah, Nevada, as well as projects in California and Arizona to start construction on more than $1.0 billion of solar power facilities in 2011, creating more than 1,000 direct jobs and 9,000 indirect jobs during the two year construction periods.”

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