Sanchez, Tony F., III, 1966-

Tony F. Sanchez III was born in the Las Vegas’ Women’s Hospital. It was 1966 and the plot of land the hospital sat on near Eastern and Sahara streets was considered rural. It was on the desert of the east Las Vegas that young Tony would grow up, graduate from Valley High School, and then graduate from University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

While doing his undergraduate studies, his mentors began to float the idea of him attending law school. Following their advice, Sanchez sought out internships and secured his first with Eva Garcia, who had begun her immigration law practice. Future internships became instrumental in shaping the trajectory his career would take. Opportunities included positions internships with the City of Las Vegas City Manager’s office and the City of Las Vegas Attorney’s office—all before he headed off to Arizona State’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law.

As a third-year law student and with help from Fernando Romero, Sanchez next went to work for Nevada Senator Richard Bryan in Washington D.C. It was a four month internship during which Sanchez attended Georgetown Law night classes. He returned to Tempe to finish law school and was chosen to clerk for Nevada Judge Joe Bonaventure. By 1990, Sanchez was back in D.C. working for Senator Richard Bryan as a full time staffer. During his second tenure with Senator Bryan, Sanchez focused on topical issues of mining and immigration; he also was in room for Senator Bryan’s interview of Ruth Bader Ginsburg for her Supreme Court confirmation.

In 1995, Sanchez returned to Nevada for an offer with the Nevada Public Utility Commission. This was followed in 1997 with a position working with Gov. Bob Miller’s Chief of Staff, Catherine Cortez Masto. When Miller’s term ended, he invited Sanchez to follow him to form a government relations department within Jones Vargas’ law firm.

His trajectory was far from over, when in 2000, Walt Higgins, then CEO of Nevada Power hired Sanchez as an outside counsel when the utility was facing a deregulation movement. Sanchez was actively fighting against deregulation during that time period. In 2006, Higgins tapped Sanchez to work in-house for Nevada Power, taking over for Pat Shalmy who was set to retire that year. Sanchez joined Nevada Power as Senior Vice President in 2007. Since then, Sanchez has overseen several departments within NV Energy and advocates for the best energy options available for Nevadans.

He remains active in many community organizations such as the Latin Chamber of Commerce, the UNLV Foundation. However, he points out that one of the fun parts of his NVE position is being active with the NV Energy’s Foundation’s philanthropic programs, such as UNLV’s renewable energy program and the Latinx Voices of Southern Nevada oral history project for UNLV Libraries’ Oral History Research Center.

Sanchez is married to Elaine Sanchez. They have four children: Antonio (IV), Tomas, Maya, and Elena.