Nevada Power raises rate hike request 80 percent

CARSON CITY — Nevada Power has amended its general rate increase request in a filing Friday with the state Public Utilities Commission, raising the revenue requirement to $37.8 million from the $20.8 million sought originally May 2.

The effect of the new request, which totals about 81 percent, would be to impose an overall increase of 1.64 percent instead of the 0.9 percent request in the original filing.

Nevada Power, operating as part of NV Energy, noted that the increased revenue requirement still would result in the lowest rate hike in more than a decade.

If approved by the PUC, the new rates taking effect Jan. 1, would see the typical residential customer bill of $152.19, based on average use of 1,141 kilowatt hours a month, increase by 2.58 percent, or $3.93.

The original request sought about a 1.85 percent increase, or $2.82 a month, for a residential customer using 1,136 kilowatts a month.

The last rate increase approved for the company was 8.26 percent.

The new figures are based on more recent customer counts, sales information and plant in service and labor costs actually experienced in the certification period.

Potential costs from the shutdown of the Reid Gardner coal-fired plant near Moapa are not part of this new filing.

The new filing also proposes to increase the monthly service charge to $15.65 instead of $15.25 in the original filing. The monthly charge now is $10. The proposed increase in the monthly charge is part of the overall 1.64 percent increase and is offset by a reduction in the kilowatt hour charge for single family residential customers.

The Nevada Bureau of Consumer Protection has objected to the increase in the monthly charge because of the effect on low-income power customers.

Hearings on the application will begin 10 a.m. Aug. 26.

Contact Capital Bureau reporter Sean Whaley at swhaley@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3900. Find him on Twitter @seanw801.