It was nearly a year ago that Google and the Nevada utility NV Energy unveiled the clean transition tariff, a novel rate structure that would allow large customers to pay a premium for power from emerging energy technologies. The third member of the cohort was enhanced geothermal company Fervo Energy, the developer whose project would be the subject of the first-of-a-kind funding model.
The CTT, the three companies explained at the time, would enable Fervo and NV Energy to work directly with Google to provide its data centers with 115 megawatts of geothermal energy. And rather than pass on the costs of commercializing enhanced geothermal to utility ratepayers, the CTT would instead allow for a long-term agreement for Google to fund Fervo’s project, and eventually access credits against the value of the resulting power.
- This week, the Nevada Public Utilities Commission has approved a first-of-its-kind deal allowing Google to fund Fervo Energy’s geothermal project, with NV Energy delivering clean electricity to Google’s data centers– at no cost to other customers.
- This approach skips traditional utility funding models and federal subsidies, letting businesses secure clean energy through long-term agreements instead of relying on general ratepayer support.
- With rising demand from AI and data centers, this deal shows that businesses can drive clean energy growth without needing government mandates, simply by choosing the energy sources that meet their needs.
Read the article in Latitude Media here.
The views and opinions expressed are those of the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of C3.