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Regional board adopts amendment to allow Dodge Flat Solar 2 expansion and new substation in East Truckee River Canyon
Summary
The Truckee Meadows Regional Planning Governing Board unanimously adopted a mapping amendment to add a regional utility site and corridor for the Dodge Flat Solar 2 expansion, enabling a new substation and one-mile transmission line connection to the existing Olinghaus substation.
The Truckee Meadows Regional Planning Governing Board on a unanimous voice vote adopted Resolution 25-01 to amend the 2024 Truckee Meadows Regional Plan to add a new regional utility site and regional utility corridor to the East Truckee River Canyon for the Dodge Flat Solar 2 project.
The amendment authorizes mapping a regional utility site where a new substation would be located and a one-mile regional utility corridor to connect that substation to the existing Olinghaus substation. The amendment was presented to the board as a Washoe County–sponsored regional plan amendment and described as an expansion of the Dodge Flat Energy Center, a facility first established in 2018 and previously approved by regional planning bodies.
Policy analyst Nate Kusha (for the record, TMRPA policy analyst) told the board the proposal does not change residential capacity projections and is an expansion of an existing facility. Kusha said the site lies in the rural area, that the project "will be self contained as far as facilities and services," and that per policy PF4 rural-area infrastructure-extension prohibitions would not be triggered. He also said portions of the subject site overlap public and restricted lands development-constraint areas but noted utilities are exempt from NR3 requirements. Kusha said the applicant had been communicating with Pyramid Lake Paiute tribal staff because the site abuts tribal land, but he reported the tribe had not submitted comments to county staff on the county's review record.
Washoe County planner Tim Evans confirmed tribal staff had not submitted comments during the county review period. Applicant Matthew Smith of NextEra Energy said the applicant obtained a right-of-way grant from Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe for portions of Bolinghouse Road for access and that a tribal liaison group has been in contact with the tribe about the project and the right-of-way grant.
Vice Chair Diane Vanderwell moved adoption of the resolution; Member Joe Rodriguez seconded. With no public testimony on the record for this hearing, the board voted to approve the amendment and the public hearing was closed.
The regional plan mapping amendment will allow the Dodge Flat Solar 2 expansion to proceed through local land-use processes consistent with the regional plan findings cited in the staff report.
The board recorded no conditions in its motion beyond the findings summarized in staff materials.
