In the last year, Nevada’s population has steadily increased. The more people living and working in Nevada, the more buildings need reliable access to utilities. This is where Nevada utilities and commercial real estate (CRE) go hand in hand. Addressing these needs for locals and new Nevadans alike requires meticulous planning, teamwork and creativity.
The Role of Utilities in CRE
A cool (or warm) building with flushable toilets, empty trash cans, and working light switches might be the baseline expectation, but hundreds of people in the utility space must work every day to make it possible.
“It’s all a coordinated effort between the local communities, municipalities, state and federal governments, and corporations,” said John Entsminger, general manager of the Las Vegas Valley Water District and the Southern Nevada Water Authority.
Throughout Nevada, many utilities, such as trash pickup, are mandatory.
“The level of service depends on the business’ needs, but we’ll be there,” said Steve Orrico, manager of community relations at Republic Services. “All you have to do is call us, and we can determine the frequency that best fits your business.”
Responding to Growth
Justin Brown, president of Southwest Gas, said Nevada is one of the fastest growing customer bases.
“We continue to lead the nation,” he said. “When we look at our peer gas utilities across the country, [Southwest Gas’] customer growth is at the top. In Las Vegas specifically, we’re seeing a lot more residences and businesses popping up as more people move from the Northeast or Midwest.”
Access to gas for these new developments is more about timing than a hard “yes” or “no.”
“I’m not familiar with any circumstance where we said, ‘Yeah, we can’t do that,’” Brown said. “Depending on their usage profile, it just may take longer to get there.”
Usage profiles overseen by Southwest Gas help the utility provider to determine if a new development can be serviced traditionally (access now), or if new investments need to be made (access up to years in the future).
“Different types of businesses will have different profiles,” Brown said. “For example, a small commercial kitchen will have lower natural gas usage than something like a manufacturing facility, for which we may need to do something like connect with an interstate pipeline.”
Brown said it’s easier for Southwest Gas to deliver gas than it is for an electric company to build a power plant to generate that same electricity: as long as the pipes exist, they can increase capacity.
Timing is also key for energy access. As the need for load growth increases, Jeff Brigger, director of business development and major accounts for NV Energy, said the earlier the team gets a call, the better – preferably during the project’s due diligence stage.
“We work with commercial customers in several ways, including pricing and calculation of rates and tariffs; facilitating site visits to help find the best location; completing discovery packages; and providing information for incentives, transportation, and labor,” he said.
In contrast, the ease of water hookups for a new development in the state directly correlates to how the water will be used.
“It’s straightforward unless you plan on an inordinate amount of consumptive water usage,” Entsminger said. “Then, I’d raise an eyebrow. We’d need to have a conversation. We have a very limited water supply.”
Consumptive water usage encompasses any process which removes water from its source for good. For commercial real estate, outdoor landscaping and evaporative cooling are the most common water wasters.
The Water Investment Rating tool was developed at the end of 2023 to compare the amount of planned consumptive water usage against the number of jobs or economic returns for the community.
“If water is used in the product or by a swamp cooler, it’s gone,” he said.
The Water Investment Rating tool isn’t a perfect science: some industries, like hospitals, use more water than jobs created, but they’re nearly always greenlit.
However, Entsminger identified industries like bottling plants, food production, or data centers known for exceptionally high consumptive water usage that may get the tool’s axe.
Instituting mechanical over evaporative cooling is one change the Water District wants to see from new developments.
“There’s a new data center being built in North Las Vegas, a $400 million project,” he said. “Using advanced mechanical cooling technologies, it has a zero-water footprint. That’s what’s going to get a green light.”
Republic Services has responded to growth by growing its own teams. As Clark County’s only trash provider, and with nearly 80 percent of the recycling market cornered, expansion was a necessity.
“If a new building pops up, we’re the ones servicing it,” Orrico said.
Dramatic growth, particularly in North Las Vegas and Henderson, has spurred new routes for Republic’s trucks.
“We’re always hiring for something,” he said. “We’ve increased the size of our fleets, we’ve added drivers, and of course, hired personnel to support that – across the spectrum, we’ve seen increases, which has been a beautiful thing. It’s wonderful to be part of a company that realizes serious growth in the community.”
Orrico said Republic has always cared about sustainability and implementing environmentally friendly policies. But in 2024, Southern Nevada’s growth in particular motivated a new permanent team: Environmental Solutions.
“We’d had a special waste representative in the past,” Orrico said. “They’d communicate with the corporate office, and we’d handle what we could here. But the population growth has warranted a long-term local presence.”
Any waste with “hazardous properties” is special waste, from paints to solvents, soil, and even casino chips.
“If it has to be disposed of in a very specific way,” Orrico said, “it’s handled by that team.”
A Different Approach
Rapid growth and the need for sustainability sometimes requires utility providers to think outside the box.
In the early 2020’s, Mesquite was without a gas line. In response to the city’s business development potential, Southwest Gas built a new transmission line to provide natural gas.
Now, nearly four years later, Southwest Gas hit its thousandth commercial customer in the city.
“Mesquite was very much a highway stopover,” said Sean Corbett, a Southwest Gas representative. “This diversification allowed us to scale and meet the energy needs of companies who have always wanted to relocate to our state.”
Microgrids are also back in vogue, with benefits like reliability, speed, and control making them more attractive than ever.
“When you’re part of a larger grid and one part goes down, you’re subjected to that outage, regardless of your usage,” Brown said. “Microgrids are making a comeback, especially for smaller manufacturers, where you are the only users.”
This is something Southwest Gas has seen specifically with data center builds in northern Nevada.
“In some of the data center sites, they’re looking at using on-site generation,” Brown said. “This uses natural gas to help create electricity through fuel cell technology. They’ve started bringing in their own energy experts, even nuclear engineers.”
As customers get more and more sophisticated, Brown said the utilities are racing to meet them where they’re at – or even exceed expectations.
“We’re creating solutions for commercial customers that allow them to utilize all utilities at their discretion to meet their needs,” he said. “It’s not natural gas versus electric, but rather, a package of complementary resources.”
A Sustainable Future
This feeds in to Southwest Gas’ continued environmentally friendly mission.
“We’ve done a lot of work around renewable natural gas, as well as hydrogen, to make sure our systems are capable of blending different fuels,” Brown said. “At the end of the day, we’re agnostic to what molecules actually flow through – rather, we want to have an energy delivery system what can be maintained and is reasonably priced.”
The Zero Offset program embraces this initiative, offering tariffs to customers who purchase renewable natural gas and offset their carbon footprints.
And as more of the state abides by these “zero” initiatives, Orrico said trash is also going greener.
Like the Water District, Republic uses a tool for new developments. But rather than determine if an entity will have access to trash services, its goal is to promote recycling.
“Recycling is optional, but whenever a new business hooks up their trash, our sales team reaches out with the waste assessment,” Orrico said.
The assessment helps Republic to understand what the trash usually consists of. Orrico said they commonly see companies with cardboard-overflowing trash cans – a clear sign that a recycling truck should be stopping by.
A mix of recycling being an open-market landscape and generally easier to process than waste makes recycling a cheaper hook-up than trash.
“That’s the goal of the assessment,” Orrico said. “If we can help someone be environmentally friendly and save them money, that’s a win for everyone.”
Legislation has also played a part in sustainability efforts.
By the end of 2026, Assembly Bill 356, also known as the “Useless Grass Removal Mandate,” requires all non-functional grass to be removed from both residential and commercial properties across the state. Any remaining non-functional grass is barred from being treated by the Colorado River, Southern Nevada’s main water source.
“Nonfunctional grass is in the medians, traffic circles – where no one would let their kids or grandkids play. You’re not kicking a soccer ball on your dentist’s patch of grass,” he said.
“Right now, commercial properties can still get $2 per square foot of non-functional grass removed,” Entsminger said.
This has dropped from $3 per square foot, in an effort to “reward early adopters.”
“There have been three and a half years of offering incentives, of rebates,” Entsminger said. “We’ve started going directly to business or property owners to let them know that the clock is ticking.”
Only a small percentage of business owners have pushed back on the mandate, Entsminger said, claiming their grass is functional.
“If you think the grass in your business park is functional, I’ll tell you, it probably isn’t,” he said.
The rule of thumb? If no one’s having a picnic on the grass, trade it in for the $2 deal before the incentive expires.
Incentives to take out non-functional grass, to limit the size of golf courses or pools are all part of the 50-Year Water Resource Plan to not only conserve water but also reduce the valley’s overall usage.
By 2035, Entsminger said the goal is to see usage down to 86 gallons, per capita, per day, or GPCD.
“GPCD is an all-inclusive number,” a representative for SNWA said. “We measure the amount of water that comes out of and back into Lake Mead via the Las Vegas Wash, where all sewage facilities in the Valley are treated. That gives you a net number of consumptive uses, and then we divide that by the total population.”
“Despite population growth, we’ve been able to reduce the community’s water footprint,” said Entsminger.
NV Energy offers similar incentives, especially for new builds. These benefits fit a wide-range of efforts, including prescriptive, performance-based, or whole building-based measures.
“[Environmentally friendly] lighting, HVAC systems and refrigeration and can really help a business reduce their energy use and their costs,” Brigger said. “Additionally, new construction incentives are also available: new buildings that exceed the applicable energy code or more may be eligible for incentives.”
