The State of Nevada, Washoe County, and the City of Reno invested $5.7 million in a carbon emissions tracking project with NZero (formerly Ledger8760.)
Recent findings reveal that the project to provide real-time data to guide environmental decisions did not deliver on its promises, raising questions about whether the investment was a good deal for Nevada taxpayers.
The project, championed by former Governor Steve Sisolak, was part of his broader environmental strategy.
Under his leadership, the state sought to position itself at the forefront of climate action through innovative partnerships and investments in technology. Sisolak pushed for the NZero contract, intending to create a model for other states to follow in tracking and reducing carbon emissions.
“We wanted Nevada to be a leader in the fight against climate change,” Sisolak stated during the project’s launch. “This platform was supposed to give us the tools to make informed decisions and take meaningful action.”
However, its performance has fallen short of the stated goals. The carbon tracking platform struggled with significant delays in data reporting, often providing data months late instead of the promised real-time updates, undermining the state and local government’s ability to make timely decisions regarding carbon reduction strategies.
Robin Yochum, a former programs manager at the Nevada Governor’s Office of Energy, expressed concerns about the project’s effectiveness.
“The data was often delayed by months, which undermined the ability to make timely decisions,” Yochum said. “We were expecting real-time tracking capabilities, but the reality fell short.”
The project also faced challenges securing real-time data from utility providers like NV Energy and Southwest Gas, further hindering the platform’s ability to deliver comprehensive insights. When NV Energy cut off the feed, the county lost access to its month-old data for nearly a year., while NZero continued to collect its $6,000 monthly fee for providing it.
“Without real-time utility data, the platform couldn’t provide the comprehensive insights we needed,” Yochum added. “It became clear that the investment wasn’t delivering the expected outcomes.”
As a result, the data provided by NZero had a slight impact on state and local carbon reduction efforts. While Washoe County and the City of Reno have used the data to implement a few projects, the State of Nevada has yet to use the information for efficiency upgrades.
“The $5.7 million could have been better spent on direct improvements to government infrastructure,” Yochum suggested. “Instead of a data platform that didn’t live up to its promises, we could have invested in tangible projects with immediate benefits.”
The decision to use NZero came under the Sisolak administration, and some critics argue that the former governor’s eagerness to advance the United Nation’s climate agenda may have led to a lack of thorough vetting. Documents reveal that the state and local governments rushed into hiring NZero without fully considering other competitors or the company’s ability to deliver on its promises.
“There was a rush to contract with NZero, and that led to a lack of due diligence,” a source close to the decision-making process said. “It’s clear now that more careful oversight was needed.”
The broader context of the carbon tracking industry, characterized by an absence of standardized methods and regulations, may have also contributed to the project’s underperformance.
Climate economist Danny Cullenward noted that this regulatory gap makes it difficult to hold companies like NZero accountable for their results.
“Without established standards, it’s difficult to hold these companies accountable,” Cullenward explained. “This lack of regulation creates a risk that public funds are not used effectively.”
The NZero project, once hailed as a pioneering effort in climate action, now serves as a cautionary tale about the challenges and risks of public-private partnerships in the environmental sector. While these partnerships can introduce innovation, they require rigorous oversight to ensure taxpayer funding gets spent effectively.
In this case, the lack of oversight and the rush to engage NZero led to concerns that the project was not a good deal for Nevada taxpayers.
“In hindsight, it’s clear that we should have been more cautious,” Yochum concluded. “This experience should serve as a lesson for future investments in climate initiatives.”
Meanwhile, the NZero board has replaced the company CEO with Josh Weber, one of the co-founders, and both Josh Griffin and Matt Griffin resigned earlier this year. The company has lost about a third of its employees.
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