Power gripes dominate at valley consumer session

A valley resident brought first-hand evidence of the rising cost of electric power to a public meeting on Friday.

The resident, Grady Prestwood, a Henderson retiree who helped build a power plants, pulled out a Nevada Power Co. bill from the 1980s for $97. About the same amount of power last month cost him $268, Prestwood told about 100 people attending a utilities commission session at the Henderson Convention Center. The rate per kilowatt hour increased to 12.5 cents from 4.7 cents over 25 years.

Prestwood, however, was most annoyed about alleged mistakes by Nevada Power meter readers over the last three years. The customer said he has been waiting for 36 days since he informed Nevada Power about an 1,100 kilowatt hour mistake.

"I still have not heard from Nevada Power, and I have not gotten an new (corrected) bill," he said.

Other consumers complained about natural gas lamps that operate continuously, lack of power company assistance with energy conservation and the $3.8 billion coal-fired power plant the electric utility is developing in Ely. But meeting participants focused on the cost of power.

Robert Young, a retiree from Henderson, repeated the advice he gives to Californians who want to relocate to Nevada: "If you want to live in Nevada, you've got to get a second job to pay your utility (bills)."

Jo Ann Kelly, chairwoman of the Public Utilities Commission, said power rates are lower in Nevada than in California but said Southern Nevada needs more air conditioning than most parts of California.

Nevada Power charges customers 11.6 cents a kilowatt hour, said Anne-Marie Cuneo, a utilities commission analyst. She blamed most of the rate increases in recent years of climbing prices for natural gas, which is used to generate 80 percent of Nevada Power's electricity.

Cuneo estimated that the $3.8 billion Ely Energy Center, a giant coal-fired plant that Nevada Power wants to build near Ely, will increase to 12 or 13 cents a kilowatt hour by the time the plant is completed in 2013.

Richard Lozo of Las Vegas complained that Nevada Power had not sent a notice that "we paid off the big goof" in wholesale power purchasing during the Western energy crisis of 2000 and 2001.

"Did anybody get a reduction?," he asked. "I didn't."

Several representatives of homeowner associations said they were encountering problems replacing natural gas lamps that burn around the clock. The homeowner groups typically want to disconnect the gas and use the poles for solar electric or low-voltage power lamps.

A Southwest Gas representative later explained that the utility will disconnect the lamps for no charge but requires a minimum charge of $240 typically for "abandonment" of each gas lamp. Abandonment ensures electrical current cannot cause leaking gas to explode. Kelly said the commission will open a case to investigate the gas lamp issue.

Contact reporter John G. Edwards at jedwards@reviewjournal.com or (702) 383-0420.