Bill draft request on utility ‘decoupling’ fails to gain endorsement

CARSON CITY — A proposed bill draft that would give state utility regulators the authority to “decouple” a utility’s recovery of costs from the sale of electricity failed to get a favorable endorsement Monday from a legislative panel.

Multiple members of the Legislative Committee on Energy said they had concerns with the concept that need to be addressed in the 2017 session.

The concept, which has been approved by 15 states and is being pursued in nine others, would ensure that a utility would collect only authorized revenues as established by state utility regulators.

The Nevada Public Utilities Commission would have the authority to implement decoupling if it was found to be in the public interest.

But Senate Majority Leader Michael Roberson, R-Henderson, said his concern is that approval of drafting such a bill could give the public the sense that the policy is being supported by the lawmakers on the panel.

“I want to learn more about this,” he said. “The Assembly and Senate commerce committees should spend more time on this next session.”

Roberson said he may ultimately support the concept, which is contrasted with the current system of providing a utility such as NV Energy with a set rate of return that is tied to its sale of electricity to customers.

The current system does not, for example, create incentives for energy efficiency measures that would reduce the consumption of electricity.

Other members of the panel, who were in a work session to recommend bills drafts to the next legislative session, also expressed concerns, including Sens. Kelvin Atkinson, D-Las Vegas, and James Settelmeyer, R-Minden.

Settelmeyer said his concerns also relate to the utility deregulation proposal on the Nov. 8 general election ballot. Question 3 would amend the state constitution to implement deregulation by 2023. The measure is being financed primarily by the Las Vegas Sands Corp.

The decoupling proposal was recommended by Gov. Brian Sandoval’s New Energy Industry Task Force.

Roberson said that even without a bill draft from the committee, the commerce committees or individual lawmakers can propose such legislation for the 2017 session.

The Review-Journal is owned by the family of Las Vegas Sands Corp. Chairman and CEO Sheldon Adelson.

Contact Sean Whaley at swhaley@reviewjournal.com or 775-461-3820. Find him on Twitter: @seanw801.