The under-construction Resorts World Las Vegas announced a 20-year agreement Tuesday with NV Energy for fully bundled electric service using 100 percent renewable resources.
The property, which is being built on the Las Vegas Strip and is expected to open in 2020, becomes the latest large power user to announce a new deal with NV Energy.
Numerous gaming companies and other businesses, including Las Vegas Sands Corp., Station Casinos, the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, South Point, and the Grand Sierra and Atlantis in Reno have all announced plans in recent weeks to stick with NV Energy after flirting with a departure from the utility.
The deal between NV Energy and Resorts World still needs approval from the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada.
The $4 billion Resorts World Las Vegas is being built by Malaysia-based Genting Group on the 87-acre site which once housed the Rat Pack-era Stardust. The integrated development will have two hotel towers covering more than 3,400 rooms. The Asian-themed Resorts World is the Strip’s first ground-up development of an all-new mega-resort since Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas opened in 2010.
Resorts World Las Vegas CEO Scott Sibella said in a statement that it’s important to the company that its power sources for the property’s guest experience are generated in a “sustainable and responsible fashion using 100 percent renewable sources of energy.”
NV Energy CEO Doug Cannon said Resorts World’s goal of using 100 renewable energy resources was “in line with our own goal of providing 100 percent renewable energy to all of our customers, and this agreement represents like-minded companies coming together for the overall benefit of all our customers.”
Boyd Gaming Corp. imploded the Stardust in 2007 to make way for Echelon, a $4.8 billion multiple-hotel complex covering 87 acres – the Stardust site plus additional land acquired by the company.
The recession killed that project early in construction, and it sat as an eyesore until Genting bought the site in March 2013 for $350 million. The company announced the deal in a well-attended press conference that included Genting’s leadership, several elected officials, and a number of Las Vegas business leaders. Nevada gaming regulators awarded Genting a preliminary finding of suitability in May 2014.
A year later, Genting held an elaborate and colorful ground-breaking ceremony on the site, with the shovel turners surrounded by Chinese lion dancers. In the background stood Echelon’s uncovered steel tower. That tower has now been incorporated into Resorts World.
In January, Resorts World said it had 1,500 construction workers employed at the location.
Howard Stutz is the executive editor of CDC Gaming Reports. He can be reached at hstutz@cdcgamingreports.com. Follow @howardstutz on Twitter.
