Nevada
EDITORIAL: Green grift costs Nevada taxpayers millions
NZero just joined Solyndra in the green energy hall of shame.
In 2021, Nevada elected officials heralded NZero, which was then named Ledger8760. The company said it would help governments track their carbon emissions in real time. Reno and Washoe County officials and even then-Gov. Steve Sisolak held a news conference to announce their partnership with the company.
“This is how we fight climate change and protect our state,” Gov. Sisolak said.
“We get to be the city, the county and the state that lead the way into a new day and a new era,” Bob Lucey, then chair of the Washoe County Commission.
Nope. Instead, they became the latest — but surely not the last — politicians duped by well-connected lobbyists selling green-tinged snake oil. As a recent ProPublica investigation exposed, the company didn’t deliver what it promised despite scoring government contracts worth $5.7 million.
“Their software didn’t do what they said it was going to do,” Robin Yochum, a former programs manager at the Governor’s Office of Energy, told ProPublica.
One problem was that NZero struggled to get information from utilities, such as NV Energy and Southwest Gas. The information it did provide was dated. These are the types of hurdles officials should have ironed out before handing the company lucrative contracts.
“I did not recall the program providing us with any more detailed information above what we already generate ourselves,” the energy manager for state public works wrote in a 2023 email.
But NZero had a secret weapon. Among its founders were powerful lobbyists, such as Josh Griffin. Its leadership included lobbyists who successfully worked for Uber, Tesla and the NFL’s Raiders.
With relationships like that, the results hardly mattered. Yvanna Cancela, then-working as Mr. Sisolak’s chief of staff, investigated ways to get the company a “$5 million contract without a competitive process,” ProPublica reported. When Ms. Yochum objected, she said she was told, ‘We have to do this. The governor’s office wants to do it, we are going to do it.’ ”
It gets worse. It’s unlikely real-time emissions data is the best use of funding. In 2009, the state came up with a list of 2,000 energy efficiency projects. More than a decade later, many of them haven’t been funded and completed.
If politicians want to reduce carbon emissions, that’s where they should have put the funding that went to NZero.
But as this story shows, the greenest thing about green energy is often the money raked in by the politically well connected.
TRUCKEE, Calif. — An avalanche in California’s Sierra Nevada on Monday buried a snowmobiler in snow and killed him, authorities said.
Rescuers responded after a 911 call around 2:20 p.m. reported a possible avalanche near Johnson Peak and Castle Peak in Truckee.
The snowmobiler was initially reported missing but then was found under the snow several minutes later, the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
Fellow recreationists found him but he didn’t survive despite lifesaving efforts, according to the statement.
Emergency personnel were working to safely extract the victim late Monday and to confirm no others were buried.
The sheriff’s office said more avalanches could occur and recommended that people avoid the area.
Each winter, 25 to 30 people die in avalanches in the U.S., according to the National Avalanche Center. The center’s current map shows high risk spots in Utah and Washington and areas of considerable risk in California, Colorado, Idaho and Wyoming.
Nevada Preps Winter Sports Rankings
Records through Sunday
Boys basketball
Class 5A
1. Liberty (10-5)
2. Democracy Prep (9-6)
3. Coronado (5-6)
4. Bishop Gorman (9-7)
5. Desert Pines (11-4)
Class 4A
1. Clark (8-5)
2. Las Vegas High (10-4)
3. Losee (7-5)
4. Faith Lutheran (11-5)
5. Shadow Ridge (11-4)
Class 3A
1. Virgin Valley (9-2)
2. The Meadows (9-5)
3. Boulder City (9-5)
4. GV Christian (8-6)
5. Pahrump Valley (5-7)
Games to watch
All games at 6:30 p.m. unless otherwise noted
Tuesday
Losee at Las Vegas
Faith Lutheran at Liberty
Wednesday
Bishop Gorman at Desert Pines
Virgin Valley at The Meadows
Thursday
Coronado at Mojave
Clark at Durango
Friday
Desert Pines at Las Vegas
Virgin Valley at Boulder City
Saturday
Big City Showdown at Coronado
Liberty vs. Desert Pines, 4:30 p.m.
Bishop Gorman vs. Coronado, 8 p.m.
Girls basketball
Class 5A
1. Bishop Gorman (11-1)
2. Democracy Prep (7-4)
3. Centennial (6-3)
4. Liberty (10-7)
5. Shadow Ridge (3-4)
Class 4A
1. Mojave (9-4)
2. Mater East (10-4)
3. Losee (14-5)
4. Del Sol (13-3)
5. Cimarron-Memorial (9-2)
Class 3A
1. Virgin Valley (6-5)
2. Boulder City (8-6)
3. Moapa Valley (8-4)
4. Coral Academy (7-4)
5. Pahrump Valley (4-7)
Games to watch
All games at 6:30 p.m. unless otherwise noted
Wednesday
Faith Lutheran at Shadow Ridge
Centennial at Liberty
Mojave at Desert Oasis
Thursday
Sierra Vista at Cimarron-Memorial, 5 p.m.
Friday
Mater East at Desert Oasis
Virgin Valley at Boulder City
Saturday
Big City Showdown at Coronado
Bishop Gorman vs. Centennial, 6:15 p.m.
Flag football
Class 5A
1. Desert Oasis (8-0)
2. Shadow Ridge (10-1)
3. Arbor View (10-1)
4. Palo Verde (10-3)
5. Liberty (6-2)
Class 4A
1. Virgin Valley (5-3)
2. Sierra Vista (5-2)
3. Mater East (6-3)
4. Clark (7-4)
5. Spring Valley (5-2)
Games to watch
All games at 5:30 p.m.
Wednesday
Palo Verde at Desert Oasis
Coronado at Bishop Gorman
SECTA at Arbor View
Friday
Shadow Ridge at Palo Verde
Canyon Springs at Arbor View
Alex Wright Review-Journal
Both directions of Interstate 80 are being redirected over Donner Summit due to slick roads and multiple spin-outs. Authorities have not provided an estimated time for reopening the highway.
This is a developing story. Please check back with us for updates.
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