Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval vetoed two bills last week that would have increased the state’s renewable energy standard and promoted community solar programs.
Clean energy advocates expressed their disappointment in the vetoes, but applauded Sandoval’s decision to sign a bill that will reinstate Nevada’s net metering standard and bring major solar developers, such as Tesla and Sunrun, back to the state. Sandoval signed eight other clean energy and energy efficiency bills.

Jessica Scott, interior west director for Vote Solar, said in a statement that the adoption of clean energy measures provided a model for other states to follow.
“While Governor Sandoval’s veto to increasing Nevada’s renewable energy goals is a missed opportunity to strengthen the Silver State’s leadership, the nine energy bills signed into law this year signal that Nevada will once again participate in our nation’s growing clean energy economy,” Scott said.

The net metering law restores the ability of homeowners in Nevada to be credited based on the retail rate for the energy they produce and export to the grid. The Nevada Public Utilities Commission in late 2015 issued an order that increased the fixed charges that solar customers in the state would pay over time, while also reducing credits for excess generation. Sunrun and SolarCity subsequently pulled out of Nevada’s solar market.

Following passage earlier this month of the net metering bill by Nevada legislators, Sunrun said in a June 6 statement that it “is coming back to Nevada.”
Sandoval held the bill signing at the Tesla Energy Warehouse in Las Vegas, according to the governor’s website.