N.Y. firm says buy in line with Nevada law

A giant money management firm in New York on Thursday denied suggestions that it may have violated Nevada law by buying more than 25 percent of a Sierra Pacific Resources, a public utility holding company.

Horizon Asset Management, a New York money management company, owned 27 percent of outstanding shares in Sierra on Sept. 30, according to a report from MSN Money Central.

Horizon, which manages $17 billion in assets for wealthy and affluent individuals, never owned more than 19 percent of the utility holding company, said Mike Venuto, marketing director for the investment company.

The Money Central report was wrong, Venuto said.

"I don't know where they came up with that number," he said.

Venuto acknowledged that it's possible that stock market number crunchers combined Horizon's total Sierra ownership stake with Sierra holdings of related companies, but he said he does not know how the 27 percent figure was calculated.

Nevada officials are investigating because of concerns the ownership stake could violate a 1997 state law that requires an investor to obtain approval from the Public Utilities Commission before buying more than a 25 percent ownership position in a public utility company.

Sierra is the holding company for Nevada Power Co. of Las Vegas and Sierra Pacific Power Co. of Reno.

At the end of the year, Horizon owned 44 million shares of Sierra or 19 percent of the utility company, Venuto said.

"We don't believe we violated anything, because we only own 19 percent of the (utility) company," Venuto said. "Horizon has never owned more than 19 percent of (Sierra Pacific Resources) shares."

State consumer advocate Eric Witkoski said he remains unconvinced, citing a second report that shows Horizon owned 27 percent of Sierra shares on Sept. 30. He pointed to a report from Quote.com.

"I still want to do some research, because the 19 percent number is not consistent with what I'm seeing," Witkoski said.

Sean Sever, a spokesman for the Public Utilities Commission, said the commission staff also is continuing its investigation.

"This isn't something we're going to figure out in a day," Sever said. "It's going to take a couple of weeks."

Nevadans for Clean Energy, a group of organizations opposed to coal-fired power projects, last week cited the Money Central report that showed Horizon's ownership at 27 percent on Sept. 30.

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