Nevada geothermal power lawsuit goes to US Court of Appeals | California News

[ad_1]

By SCOTT SONNER, Associated Press

RENO, Nev. (AP) — A federal appeals court will have to decide whether protecting historic tribal lands and a rare toad warrant shutting down a major geothermal power plant in Nevada as the nation tries to move away from fossil fuels in the in the midst of a looming climate crisis.

Ormat Technologies says it could drop the project if a 90-day court order stays in place until March at the high-desert site bordering hot springs-fed wetlands about 100 miles east of Reno .

The legal battle is heading to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco after a federal judge in Reno this week denied Ormat’s request to lift the temporary injunction by Feb. 28.

The Fallon Paiute-Shoshone Tribe and the Center for Biological Diversity won the Jan. 4 court order temporarily banning all activity on what they say are sacred ceremonial grounds and are home to the ongoing Dixie Valley Toad. review for a list of endangered species in the United States.

political cartoons

They also warn that the project could end up costing Southern California ratepayers more for electricity.

Reno-based Ormat, one of the five largest U.S. geothermal producers, says it could lose tens of millions of dollars if it cannot begin construction at the site on federal land before March.

“While this is a blow to the company, it could spell the end of the project,” its lawyers wrote in their request to halve the 90-day order.

Ormat said it has invested $68 million over 10 years to begin construction early this year and meet a Dec. 31 deadline to begin selling electricity at rates above current market prices under the new plan. a 2017 contract.

They told U.S. District Judge Robert C. Jones on January 10 that the situation made it “virtually impossible” to meet the deadline “critical to making the project economically feasible.”

Jones said in his order Wednesday night that they should appeal to the San Francisco Court of Appeals.

“The most effective and direct route to resolve any party’s concerns regarding this court’s orders on the Temporary Restraining Order and the Preliminary Injunction is to pursue the appeal in an expedited manner,” he said. -he writes.

On Thursday, Ormat’s lawyers filed a formal notice of their intention to appeal.

It’s the latest development in a lawsuit opponents filed last month to overturn an environmental review the Bureau of Land Management approved when it cleared the project in November.

The lawsuit says pumping water underground at Dixie Meadows will harm hot springs the tribe considers sacred and could push the toad to the brink of extinction in the only place in the world where it is known.

Lawyers for the opponents also say in their latest court documents that while Ormat can benefit from the energy deal he struck in 2017, electric ratepayers would not.

“Ormat’s interest in taking advantage of above-market prices — which would likely be borne by Los Angeles-area consumers during the term of the contract — does not constitute irreparable harm,” they wrote.

Ormat argues that the ceremonial grounds and the toad itself are too far from the factory to be harmed, and that the area is already developed with roads, power lines, a well field and an existing gravel pit bordering the site.

Its lawyers say geothermal development is a particularly important step “in the global fight to reduce greenhouse gases and slow climate change.” Unlike wind and solar, geothermal energy “contributes to the availability of clean energy 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” they said.

“The loss of the project would be a blow to the state’s efforts to replace fossil fuel burning with renewable energy, posing an obstacle to Nevada’s constitutional requirement to source 50% of the state’s energy. from renewable resources by 2030,” they wrote.

The tribe and conservationists say any delays in construction are largely the fault of Ormat and the government.

Their attorneys say the office’s environmental assessment makes it clear that from 2011 to 2016, Ormat failed to collect required surface water monitoring data, as it agreed to as part of its lease.

They said they alerted Ormat and the bureau in 2017 that they needed to prepare a more detailed environmental impact statement.

“Failure to resolve these issues in subsequent years does not now create an emergency,” they wrote.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

[ad_2]