LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — On Saturday morning, Nevada will have a spectacular view of a ‘ring of fire’ solar eclipse.
NASA says in the United States, the eclipse will be best viewed in Oregon, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico and Texas. The best time frame to view the eclipse in Nevada will be between 9:24 a.m. and 9:26 a.m. Saturday.
MORE: What to expect from this month's 'ring of fire' eclipse
The reason this year’s annular eclipse is called the "ring of fire" is that the moon, sun and Earth line up in orbit. The moon will appear smaller than the sun, allowing a ring of the sun's light to remain visible.
As the moon covers part of the sun, it will have an impact on the energy grid. The lack of sunshine will create an 80-85 percent drop in solar energy output in Southern Nevada and a 90-95 percent drop in solar energy output in northern Nevada, according to NV Energy officials.
NV Energy says they’re prepared to make up for that loss.
“Between the hours of 8 in the morning and 11 in the morning, we expect to see a drop off in solar production,; our resources will need to ramp up in order to accommodate that decrease in solar output,” said Vernon Taylor, director of trading operations in the Resource Optimization Department for NV Energy.
Taylor added the company has strategies in place: discharging batteries, using more of its Hoover allocation and starting gas-fired peakers.
A spokesperson for the company says they don’t expect any rate changes during Saturday’s event. They also do not expect any interruption of power.
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