Switch corporation to build largest U.S. solar project in Nevada

Joined by Capital Dynamics, the Switch corporation announced this week that it intends to build the single largest solar project portfolio in the United States among the deserts of Nevada.

The project is being called Gigawatt 1 and, when completed, will pack enough power to charge nearly one million homes. Its concept was originally proposed by Switch’s CEO and founder Rob Roy three years ago, but its modern incarnation will see assets owned and developed by Capital Dynamics, with tenants attached. Switch will be one of those tenants, along with several of its clients.

“The foundation of Gigawatt Nevada is that Nevada should harness the sun the same way Alaska harnesses its oil to significantly benefit all Nevadans,” Roy said. “Nevada enjoys the best solar window in the nation and so we Nevadans should not only be using solar for ourselves, but exporting it throughout the Western U.S. to create new jobs, tax revenue, economic diversification, and raise energy independence.”

The project would provide renewable energy to its customers for significantly less than competitor NV Energy, according to Switch, thanks to an offering known as the Green Rider Tariff. Local Nevada labor will be used in construction and the arrays will make use of American-made solar panels. Around 1,250 construction jobs are expected to result.

Greenpeace has weighed in on the project, praising its ambition.

“Climate scientists have repeatedly warned that we must move to renewable energy as rapidly as possible, but many monopoly utilities continue to hold us back from making this transition,” Gary Cook, senior IT Sector analyst and energy campaigner at Greenpeace, said. “Gigawatt 1 shows that when Switch and other leading companies don’t take ‘no’ for an answer, they can work together and kick open the door to large scale sources of renewable energy that are better for the planet, and better for the economy in Nevada.”