Hydrogen power producer seeks to bail on utility monopoly
Renewable energy company Air Liquide Hydrogen Energy has filed for approval to leave NV Energy, becoming the first company to do so in 2019.
The Houston-based company first filed with the Public Utilities Commission on Feb. 1. Its parent company, industrial gas company Air Liquide Advanced Technologies, received tax abatements from the Governor’s Office of Economic Development in September.
The subsidiary was created to develop a liquid hydrogen facility in Clark County that would transform natural gas feedstock into liquid hydrogen. Commercial operations are slated to begin by the third or fourth quarter of 2021.
The company is not yet an NV Energy electricity customer, and it has asked the utility not to plan on serving permanent energy to its facility. Documents did not outline why the company is looking to find an alternative provider, but spokespeople from other major casinos
that have moved to leave the utility have said electricity costs and renewable energy sourcing are contributing factors.
The company did not mention in documents whether it intends to pay an exit fee.
Leaving NV Energy can come with a hefty price tag, which the company
and the Public Utilities Commission say is meant to negate unexpected costs for the remaining customers. MGM Resorts International, which left NV Energy in 2016, paid $86.9 million in exit fees, and Caesars Entertainment Corp. was assigned $47.5 million in exit fees in 2018.
Another developing facility, the Las Vegas stadium, has successfully argued that because it is not yet an NV Energy customer, it shouldn’t have to pay an exit fee if it chooses
an alternative provider.
Air Liquide has entered into an initial letter agreement with Tenaska Power Services Co., a Texas-based power marketer. The company operates a 24-hour electricity trading floor and is “active in short-term and real-time power markets,” according to its website.
Contact Bailey Schulz at bschulz@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0233. Follow @bailey_schulz on Twitter.