The topic around data centers continues to be quite contentious, and it’s no different here in northern Nevada.
Last Friday, NV Energy filed a lawsuit against data center company, Tract which has purchased more than 12,000 acres of Northern Nevada land for five data center projects listed on its website.
The lawsuit says that most data centers in the state recognize and accept that if a project creates a new utility cost, it should pay for it.
NV Energy alleges Tract, does not agree with this sentiment.
“It wants NV Energy to reserve and provide enormous amounts of power for Tract’s private development while shifting the infrastructure and energy costs to Nevada families, small businesses, and existing customers who did not cause them,” the lawsuit says.
The litigation suggests that Tract wants to handle this matter with a private arbitration, which simply means, that it’s not handled in a public courtroom, and a third party comes in to do it privately, just between only the two parties.
NV Energy says Tract filed this request on June 16.
In the lawsuit, the public utility company says that it’s not able to discuss the changes Tract is proposing without the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada’s involvement.
NV Energy says the goal of the litigation is to have this heard in front of the commission rather than an arbitrator.
Much of the lawsuit is redacted. Attorneys for NV Energy say its due to two projects, Tract’s Peru Shelf and South Valley, that have previous agreements with both companies, having confidential information in the civil complaint.
We reached out to Tract for comment.
Here is the full statement:
“The complaint filed by NV Energy seriously misstates the issues, the facts, and the contracts NV Energy signed, and is laced with inflammatory rhetoric clearly intended to distract from the real issues. Tract has committed to paying our fair share for infrastructure and generation needs, and any claim otherwise is simply false.
"This dispute concerns commitments that NV Energy negotiated, documented, and agreed to with Tract. The contracts signed by NV Energy commit this dispute to arbitration – a choice made by NV Energy – and NV Energy’s suggestion that the dispute should not be arbitrated is a complete contradiction of NV Energy’s own contracts. Rather than addressing those commitments in the manner dictated by their own contract language, NV Energy launched a public attack that appears designed to shape headlines rather than resolve a legal dispute.
"The reality is simple: Tract has consistently operated transparently, honored our commitments, and made substantial investments in infrastructure improvements that support communities across northern Nevada. We have never asked or expected for our costs to be subsidized by others; to the contrary, we have spent over $50 million, and have committed to spend nearly $1 billion, to support NV Energy’s infrastructure. We have never sought or received any special treatment, and we remain committed to creating jobs and supporting economic growth in the state. We just want NV Energy to live up to the commitments it made to us.
"We are confident that the facts support our position, and we look forward to presenting them in the appropriate forum. We fully intend to continue honoring our obligations and expect NV Energy to do the same.”
There are no scheduled court dates when the article was released.
