What Impact Does Oil Have on Nevada’s Economy?

This might sound like a boring blog post – but if you think stimulating Nevada’s economy and fixing the planet is a good idea, you will like this post.

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) tells us Nevada imported 2,926,300 gallons of gas per day in 2015.  That’s a staggering 1,068,099,500 gallons of gas per year.  Gas Buddy shows that average prices in 2015 dropped from $3.00 to $2.50/gallon, so lets call it $2.50/gallon.  Excluding the 19% required for road taxes, Nevada spent over $2,025,000,000 on transportation energy.  Since Nevada produces very little oil, that means we export around $2 billion dollar per year out of our economy!   

The impact of $2B leaving Nevada each year is staggering.  What if there was an energy source that prevented a majority of those dollars from leaving the state each year?  Imagine an energy source that put those dollars in the pockets of Nevadans who in turn, spend them locally on goods & services – think about how amazing that would be for our economy.

Lastly, imagine if there was an energy source that costs less than gasoline, eliminated CO2 emissions, and dramatically cleaned up air quality in Nevada.  And what if the vehicles that can run on this energy source were partially manufactured in Nevada?

What could this crazy energy source be?  You guessed it – solar energy.  Here’s how it works:

1. Drive affordable electric cars fueled from rooftop solar panels (Tesla, GM, and many others are now making $35k electric cars.  Used Nissan Leafs will run you $9k).
2. Modify the net metering law to allow 1:1 credit for any household using solar panels to fuel electric car(s).  If your car consumes 4,000 kWh per year – your solar system can produce 4,000 kWh per year.  This protects the utility model (and uninterested customers) because a house without solar/electric car(s) uses the same amount of grid energy as a house with solar/electric car(s).
3. The $2B starts being diverted back to Nevada’s economy in the form of energy savings (dollars in everyone’s pocket) and jobs in solar panel installation and electric vehicle manufacturing.
4. This is an opportunity to prevent 20,000,000,000 lbs of CO2 from entering the atmosphere each year and reduce ozone pollution in our major cities.  It also saves many lives that are lost each year to breathing disorders.

(Tesla Model 3 – Available late 2017/2018 – Battery made in Nevada).

Renewable energy and electric cars can do so much for Nevada’s economy.  And – it just so happens that this concept is really – really good for the planet.  Let’s get to work!