Las Vegas Now Runs in 100% Clean Energy Capacity

Las Vegas is finally drawing 100 percent of its power from renewable energy sources. This is a dream finally achieved by its officials for the better part of the decade.

According to the Review Journal, this effort moved closer to reality last 2015 when the city expanded its partnership with NVEnergy to deliver the power to run its facilities -- from the City Hall to parks to streetlights -- using clean energy sources.

This goal has been fully realized last week when Boulder Solar 1, the large-scale project near Boulder City, had become online.

Las Vegas mayor Carolyn Goodman said the city has now become a "world leader in sustainability."

According to Review Journal, aside from streetlights powered by kinetic energy, a portion of what's powered at the Boulder Solar 1 site is dedicated to the city.

The city also generates energy to power on-site facilities with tree-shaped panels in the City Hall plaza, solar shade canopies at parks and arrays on roofs and other facilities.

According to Review Journal, the city also draws power from hydropower energy. By the end of 2017, Las Vegas will for the first time draw power from the Hoover Dam, which will complement existing renewable sources. 

Not to mention, NVEnergy's GreenEnergy program will allow large customers to contract for an added cost with the company to power their facilities. 

It can be remembered that Las Vegas began building its sustainable energy programs back in 2008, first with energy-saving measures across the city and putting solar arrays on and around city facilities. This is a big move alongside other cities and countries who are aiming for a more "green" society, where they are starting to get more dependent on renewable energy sources and are cutting costs on methods that spend fossil fuel.

For instance countries such as Canada are starting to opt out of coal to support this push. Meanwhile, investments on diesel are starting to drop due to this campaign towards using cleaner fuel. 

The city energy's saving because of this shift jumped to $5-million annually.