Nevada Solar and Battery Storage Projects: UEPA Permits and Decommissioning Funding Plans

NRS 704.870 lists what a UEPA application must contain. Subsection (1)(d) calls for "a surplus asset retirement plan as described in subsection 2 of NRS 704.734," covering decommissioning and removal after the facility stops operating, together with "a description of the manner in which the plan will be funded." Decommissioning is therefore part of the permit file from the start, not a matter left to the end of the project's life.

The PUCN then has to make a finding. Before it grants a permit, NRS 704.890(1)(f) requires it to find that the plan "Is able to be reasonably completed under the funding plan contained in the application." A sponsor that proposes a thin or vague funding plan can expect questions on that point. Under NRS 704.890(2), the PUCN "shall condition its permit upon the applicant obtaining" the other permits and approvals the project needs, so local and federal approvals remain separate steps.

AB 493 of the 2025 session amended NRS 704.734, and the enrolled bill makes that section "effective on October 1, 2025." The current codified NRS 704.734 carries the new 70 megawatt language. Its subsection (2)(e) now applies to "each utility-scale solar project with a nameplate capacity of 70 megawatts or more." For those projects the retirement plan must include the landowner's contact information, the sequence and schedule of decommissioning and how the land will be "returned to a substantially similar state."

The plan must also include "An estimate of the costs of decommissioning" and say how it "will be funded in accordance with NRS 704.870." The definition of a utility-scale solar project, ground-mounted photovoltaic generation of 70 megawatts or more connected directly to transmission, "includes, without limitation, solar arrays, accessory buildings, battery storage facilities, transmission facilities." Co-located battery storage therefore belongs in the estimate and the funding plan, not in a separate document.

Other parts of AB 493 start later. Sections on disposal plans for leased residential distributed generation, a 90 percent panel-recovery rate and reports from recyclers of utility-scale solar components take effect January 1, 2028; recyclers file an annual report by March 1. Owners planning end-of-life work should track those dates.

None of NRS 704.734, 704.870 or 704.890 names a bond, letter of credit, escrow or parent guaranty, sets a percentage of the estimate or says how often the amount is recalculated. The statute asks for a cost estimate and a funding plan the PUCN finds adequate. Who holds any security, when it is posted and whether it is updated over time therefore depend on the application and the conditions in each permit, so read the permit itself rather than assuming a standard form.

For the surety market, that open design cuts both ways. A sponsor can propose a bond, a letter of credit or another structure in its funding plan, but a surety asked for a decommissioning bond will typically want to know the term, the trigger for a claim, whether the amount can rise with new estimates and how the bond can be released. Long-tail bonds of that kind usually draw on corporate indemnity and sometimes collateral, and whether a surety will write one is subject to underwriting. A decommissioning bond is a surety obligation, not insurance.

The UEPA sections cited here set no insurance limit, additional insured requirement or pollution coverage term. Those come from permit conditions, landowner and federal land agreements, interconnection agreements and the EPC and supply contracts. Read each one for limits and named parties before binding the construction program.

Most utility-scale programs in Nevada still need builders risk with delay in startup for long-lead transformers, modules and battery enclosures, general and excess liability for construction and operation and pollution coverage for site work and battery releases. Battery fire safety is set by the fire code authority with jurisdiction over the site, and underwriters typically ask for test data and the design basis before quoting. The EPC contractor's performance and payment bonds and any decommissioning bond draw on surety capacity, so sponsors and contractors benefit from planning them together. Terms can vary by carrier guidelines and programs, subject to underwriting and the terms of the bonds and policies issued.