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Coal Plants in Nevada

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The three new conventional coal plants proposed to be built in Nevada are projected by NRDC to generate 888,272 tons of contaminated coal waste, including 820 tons of toxic metals. Nevada ranks 3rd in waste production expected from new conventional coal plants, and 3rd in toxic metals from those plants.

Nevada ranks 36th in the country for contaminated coal waste, with 771,600 tons of waste reported to the U.S. Energy Information Administration in 2005. The state also ranks 36th in toxic metals contaminating its coal waste, with 391 tons of toxic metals, based on NRDC estimates.

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Statistics for New and Proposed Plants in Nevada

Plant	County	Estimated tons of coal waste	Estimated tons of toxic metals
Ely *	White Pine	394,054	364
White Pine *	White Pine	357,408	330
Toquop	Lincoln	136,810	126

Statistics for Existing Plants in Nevada

Plant	Owner (primary)	County	Tons of waste	Percent of waste disposed	Tons of toxic metals
Mohave	Southern California Edison Co	Clark	427,900	34.9%	No Data
North Valmy	Sierra Pacific Power Co	Humboldt	201,800	92.3%	167
Reid Gardner (NEVP)	Nevada Power Co	Clark	141,700	100.0%	225
Fort Churchill †	Sierra Pacific Power Co	Lyon	200	100.0%	No Data

* Plant has been successfully challenged in the courts or in regulatory proceedings, or has experienced other regulatory or financial setbacks that have put the project on hold. However, a plant should not be considered truly cancelled until all pending regulatory approvals have been withdrawn and the project has been categorically abandoned, and a plant will remain on the proposed list until NRDC can confirm that it has been cancelled in this manner.

† While these plants use oil, natural gas or other fuels rather than coal, they are listed here because they reported their waste to the Energy Information Administration.

Percent of waste disposed indicates the proportion of contaminated coal waste disposed of in landfills, ponds, or on- or off-site disposal facilities. For detailed information on how each plant reported its waste disposal in 2005, see the detailed data Excel spreadsheet.

Sources: Permit applications for new plants; Energy Information Administration data; NRDC estimates. The most recent data available from the EIA is from 2005 and it is possible that operational changes at particular plants will have changed the yearly waste volumes and disposal methods. Click here for detailed glossary of terms and our methodology.

last revised 3/12/2009