NV Energy CEO leaves company; Nevada native taking over
NV Energy’s president and CEO is leaving the utility for a “new opportunity,” with a senior vice president stepping in.
Doug Cannon, who has served as president and CEO since 2019, is leaving his role to serve as the president of American Electric Power, the utility said Tuesday. Brandon Barkhuff, current senior vice president, general counsel, corporate secretary and chief compliance officer will take his place, effective Wednesday.
“Brandon is a lifelong resident of Nevada, providing him with a strong understanding of the needs of the customers and communities NV Energy serves,” said NV Energy in a statement to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Barkhuff joined NV Energy as assistant general counsel in 2011.
Currently, Barkhuff serves on the board of trustees for the Vegas Chamber and National Judicial College. He received his bachelor’s degree in political science from University of California, Los Angeles, his law degree from Boston College Law School and worked for Nevada law firm McDonald Carano LLP.
Cannon will assume his new position at the transmission company on June 11 and will oversee “planning, projects, engineering, operations and growth,” according to a news release from AEP. The company owns the largest transmission network in the country with 40,000 miles and more 765-kilovolt extra-high voltage transmission lines.
Cannon’s career at NV Energy started in 2013, first serving as executive vice president, general counsel, corporate secretary and chief compliance officer — a similar role to Barkhuff — before being named president in February 2018. He didn’t tack on the title CEO until January 2019.
The announcement comes after NV Energy faced public scrutiny for overcharging almost 60,000 households $17 million between April 1, 2017, and April 1, 2024 by misclassifying multifamily residences as a single-family residence. Additionally, it was found NV Energy undercharged 5,438 customers across 2,451 households $2,579,744.35 by misclassifying single-family residences as multifamily residences.
Refunds were only provided to a portion of the affected households and were capped at six months, resulting in less than $2 million reimbursed to customers. These discrepancies happened at “point of build and design,” when NV Energy would enter customers into their billing system.
According to the filing with the Public Utilities Commission on the overcharging, NV Energy was improperly using Rule 2(K)(3), a rule that only applies to Southern Nevada, unlawfully in order to provide only partial refunds. The rule that capped refunds at six months only applies to customers who chose the wrong rate classification, not the power company, said the filing.
“NV Energy discovered a number of customers who were charged the wrong rate for their property type, informed the Public Utilities Commission staff of the issue and has notified those customers and started issuing refunds to customers that were overcharged,” said an NV Energy spokesperson. “NV Energy has not sought repayment from those customers that were undercharged.”
Eight different organizations — Nevada Conservation League; Faith in Action Nevada; Caring, Helping and Restoring Lives; Faith Organizing Alliance; Solar United Neighbors; Chispa Nevada; Moms Clean Air Force Nevada; New Day Nevada — issued a press release admonishing NV Energy for the overcharging.
“This egregious negligence raises major concerns about the leadership and integrity of the state’s monopoly electric utility,” said the organizations. “NV Energy has not explained how these mass overcharges happened, if Nevadans were notified of these overcharges, or why customers were not promptly refunded.”
Cannon’s departure is not tied to the misclassifications.
Contact Emerson Drewes at edrewes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @EmersonDrewes on X.
