RENO, Nevada (AP) - Sierra Pacific Power Co., a unit of Nevada electric utility Sierra Pacific Resources Corp., Tuesday issued a request for proposals to purchase up to 25 megawatts of electrical capacity from special electric generating facilities known as qualifying facilities.
A qualifying facility is either a small power producer that generates electricity from a renewable source for its own needs and sometimes has a surplus, or a manufacturer that creates electricity as a byproduct of its processes.
Federal Energy Regulation Commission rules permit the sale of that electricity to utilities, although utilities must ask for bids.
The sale of electricity by qualifying facilities is designed to encourage the use of renewable energy and other source of energy outside the traditional utility structure.
Sierra Pacific wants delivery of the power as early as 2007 and as late as 2011.