{"id":17879,"date":"2016-03-08T12:44:42","date_gmt":"2016-03-08T20:44:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=17879"},"modified":"2016-03-08T12:44:42","modified_gmt":"2016-03-08T20:44:42","slug":"nevada-casinos-wrangle-with-buffett-mashpee-wampanoag-take-the-lead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/nevada-casinos-wrangle-with-buffett-mashpee-wampanoag-take-the-lead\/","title":{"rendered":"Nevada casinos wrangle with Buffett; Mashpee Wampanoag take the lead"},"content":{"rendered":"

We’ve written about the solar-panel installation atop Mandalay Bay<\/strong>‘s convention center and now the 20-acre array — soon to be the United States<\/strong>‘\u00a0largest — is making international headlines<\/a>. The high priority on solar power at MGM Resorts \"Mandalay-Bay-pic\"International<\/strong> puts a spotlight on the company’s battle with NV Energy, from whose grid it would dearly like to extricate itself. MGM alone consumes some 7% of the utility’s power output and NV Energy<\/strong> maintains that residential customers would have to bear burdensome rate increases if MGM weren’t dunned handsomely for the privilege of taking its energy business elsewhere. Not only is MGM using solar power to lower its dependence on NV Energy, it’s replacing no fewer than 1.3 million light bulbs with energy-conserving LEDs.<\/p>\n

In NV Energy’s defense, American Solar Energy Society<\/strong> economist Bill Ellard<\/strong> asked The Guardian<\/em>,\u00a0\u201cThey need to maintain the grid. You cannot let these utilities go bankrupt or else every business in the city dies.\u00a0What will happen if they don\u2019t maintain the grid properly and the transformers blow?\u201d (If that sounds fanciful, be warned that there was a major blowout in Chinatown<\/strong> last Sunday.) MGM, and other companies which have turned to compressed natural gas as an energy source, are putting further pressure on NV Energy to maintain current revenue levels.\u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s natural gas, wind, coal, smart grid, big data, oil \u2013 it\u2019s all connected. We\u2019re at this next change point where wind and solar [battery] storage and smart software are going to start to replace all those energy sources,\u201d said Ellard.<\/p>\n

While MGM and Las Vegas Sands<\/strong> mull their legal options, Wynn Resorts<\/strong> has taken NV Energy to court, accusing owner Warren Buffett<\/strong> of price gouging.\u00a0\u201cThe PUC has simply made up rules as it goes along so as to discourage any applicants from exiting [its] service.” Las Vegas<\/strong> struck a Faustian pact by going to an all-renewable policy for civic infrastructure — at the price of buying solar power from NV Energy’s Boulder City<\/strong> array. In the meanwhile, MGM, Sands and Wynn are being given pause by the $126.5 million it would collectively cost them to wean their operations from NV Energy’s teat.<\/p>\n

* South Korea<\/strong>‘s not looking like the next Macao<\/strong> — not when it’s coming off a 10% gaming-revenue decline, and is looking at competition from new Macanese casinos and ones in the greater Vladivostok<\/strong> area. Fitch Ratings<\/strong> says a trio of tourist-only casinos
\n\"Inspire\"near Incheon International Airport<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cwill have difficulty achieving robust returns on investments … Fitch believes chances that locals will be allowed to gamble elsewhere in the medium term are remote based on our conversations with the country\u2019s officials and incumbent operators,\u201d added the report.<\/p>\n

That’s not good news for Mohegan Sun<\/strong> and KCC Corp<\/strong>., whose Inspired<\/strong> megaresort is budgeted at $1.6 billion just for its initial phase and will open well behind — three years behind<\/a> — a $1 billion Paradise Co<\/strong>.\/Sammy Sega<\/strong> casino scheduled to debut next year. On the bright side,\u201cIncheon International Airport is one of the most heavily trafficked airports for international passengers in the world.\u201d Although a Caesars Entertainment<\/strong>\/Lippo Group<\/strong> project is theoretically still alive, it’s been inactive for some time now and doubts have been voiced over whether it will ever get off the ground. According to Fitch, the best hope for these projects is keeping other casino development limited and for Japan<\/strong> to continue to fail to legalize casinos. (No problem there.) Also, while not eligible to play in the casinos, locals may well flock to the retail and amusement attractions offered at Incheon.<\/p>\n