Switch-Backed 510 MW Tahoe-Reno Gas Plant Awaits Nevada Approval

A 510 MW natural-gas plant for Switch's data centers at the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center is awaiting approval from Nevada regulators, Nevada Current reported on Oct. 26. The applicant is Nexus Fulcrum LLC, and Switch says it is the intended off-taker and ultimate owner. The Public Utilities Commission of Nevada (PUCN) has not ruled, and no ruling had been reported as of Oct. 28.

According to the commission filings Nevada Current cites, the 20-acre project would sit on the former Sierra Biofuels Refinery. Nexus Fulcrum LLC proposed it in June, and Nevada Current reported that Switch disclosed in September that it is the "ultimate owner." NVBEX reported on Oct. 21 that a Switch filing calls the company the intended off-taker, that the plant would use nine gas turbines, and that the PUCN held a hearing on Oct. 14 that drew public opposition. No ruling has been reported.

Why It Matters for Data-Center Power

This is a private behind-the-meter plant, the on-site supply that operators build where the grid cannot keep up. Nevada Current says the plant would run for 30 years or more, unlike the two temporary gas plants regulators approved in September for another developer. According to Nevada Current, NV Energy told the PUCN that growth at and near the industrial center has outpaced regional generation, and that the existing system has limits. The utility projects, according to Nevada Current, that its overall demand could double by 2030 on AI and data center growth. For comparison, Voltgrid News covered Dominion's 3-GW Cumberland gas plant, another large gas build tied to data-center load.

Pipeline Gas and Behind-the-Meter Rules

Fuel would come from an expansion by Great Basin Gas Transmission Company, a Southwest Gas subsidiary. Great Basin is in FERC's pre-filing review, with no formal application filed yet, for its 2028 Expansion Project, which Nevada Current puts at about 230 miles of new or expanded pipeline across Churchill, Humboldt, Lyon, Pershing, Storey and Washoe counties. Nevada Current says the expansion could raise the gas flowing into northern Nevada by as much as five times and could supply an estimated 5,000 MW of new gas-fired generation.

Nevada Current reports that Switch's plant is one of 12 new delivery points in the pre-filings with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), in Churchill, Storey and Lyon counties. An environmental statement from Nexus Fulcrum says gas would reach the site by a new lateral off the Great Basin system. Great Basin told FERC that the other shippers and the intended use of the gas are privileged and covered by non-disclosure agreements. It expects service to begin in November 2028, but formal FERC approval is still required. In February, Nevada Current reports, Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo sent FERC a letter backing the expansion, citing future economic development including data centers.

Behind-the-meter power is generated on the customer's side of the electric meter, so it does not use the public utility's own equipment, and state regulators have a smaller role in overseeing it, The Nevada Independent reports. Such customers also do not have to meet Nevada's renewable portfolio standard, which businesses that leave NV Energy under the 704B law but still use its transmission must meet.

The proposal calls for nine gas turbines of 56 to 57 MW each, per The Nevada Independent, which reported that construction would start in early 2027 and finish in late 2029, according to the application. Because the site is private land, no federal environmental review is needed, but the plant still needs PUCN action and state permits, including a construction air permit from the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection, which is still reviewing the application. The trade-off is time: NVBEX says data centers can wait two to three years for grid power, while this plant is slated for completion in the fourth quarter of 2029, if approved; the sources do not say whether any units would start earlier.

What Is Not Confirmed Yet

The PUCN has not approved the plant. If it does, further state permits would follow, including a construction air-quality permit from the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection. NVBEX reports that construction would begin in the first quarter of 2027 and finish in the fourth quarter of 2029, if approved.

The application puts carbon dioxide at up to 2 million metric tons a year, according to Nevada Current. In written testimony, Zoë Harrold of Nevadans for Clean Affordable Reliable Energy said emissions at the upper end would exceed every utility-owned fossil plant in Nevada except North Valmy, and would effectively erase the electric-sector cuts made since 2015. Nevada's renewable portfolio standard calls for 50% renewable energy by 2030, per Nevada Current, but private on-site plants are not bound by it because they are not utilities like NV Energy. Nevada Current says the application lists up to 15 acre-feet of water during construction and 145 acre-feet a year in operation.

Voltgrid News also reported on Oracle's Project Jupiter air permit in New Mexico, another on-site gas build that depends on state permits.