The Nevada Clean Energy Fund (NCEF) asked the Assembly Ways and Means Committee for a $500,000 appropriation to continue financial and technical assistance programs that help low‑income households, schools, tribes and small businesses implement clean‑energy projects.

Kirsten Stasio, NCEF chief executive, told the committee the nonprofit leverages state investment to secure additional federal, private and philanthropic funds. “For every $1,000,000 that we were able to allocate, they were able to unlock nearly $200,000,000 in federal clean energy funding,” Senator Rochelle Wynne and Stasio said in testimony. NCEF’s Nevada Solar for All initiative, the group said, will reduce household utility bills for roughly 50,000 Nevadans over four years and deliver more than 1,000 jobs in the clean‑energy sector.

Supporters in the hearing included higher‑education leaders, housing advocates, environmental organizations and tribal representatives. Patricia Charlton, chancellor of the Nevada System of Higher Education, and Christy Cabrera Georgeson of the Nevada Conservation League both testified in favor. Several community colleges and extension programs also described their partnerships with NCEF and the practical services — bilingual data reports for small businesses, clean school buses for rural districts — delivered with the fund’s help.

Senator Wynne, sponsor of SB 132, asked members to consider memorializing the program in the executive budget in future years so the fund would not need annual appropriations. For the current session NCEF requested $500,000 after earlier drafts sought larger amounts; Stasio said the scaled figure still helps the nonprofit continue to match state dollars to outside capital.

The committee closed the hearing after testimony and letters of support were entered into the record. No fiscal action was taken during the session and members did not record a vote at this hearing.