Residents oppose power rate increase

Rob Raymond just can’t make sense of his growing electricity bills. And that makes him angry.

Last summer, even after replacing a 30-year-old air conditioner at his Las Vegas home with an energy efficient unit, the 68-year-old Nevada native paid more than $1,000 in bills over the next two months to NV Energy, which now wants to raise his rates even more.

“I’m getting sick and tired of it,” said Raymond, who was one of about 40 residents who attended a consumer session sponsored by the Nevada Public Utilities Commission to discuss NV Energy’s latest general rate filing.

The company, doing business as Nevada Power in Southern Nevada, has requested a rate increase of 1.85 percent. That means another $2.82 going to electricity every month.

Tony Sanchez, NV Energy’s senior vice president of government and community strategy, addressed attendees of the consumer session by pointing out the rate request reflects one of the smallest increases in a decade.

The last increase landed in residents’ laps at a whopping 8.26 percent.

The executive, wearing a suit and sitting at the front of the hearing room at the commission’s Las Vegas headquarters, said extra revenue generated by the rate increase would help the company recover investments made to improve operations. He added the increase would position the company to “better serve” customers and help them “save you money on your bills.”

The audience scoffed, laughing at Sanchez’s comments. One woman responded by yelling, “Noooooo!”

The session came on the heels of a new utilities commission report showing that the average monthly power bill of Las Vegas Valley residents has almost tripled since 1985.

That means longtime Nevadans who use an average 1,200 kilowatt hours per month have experienced a jump from about $65 a month to more than $160 a month over the last three decades.

NV Energy’s increase request would also balloon the customer charge by more than 50 percent to $15.25 a month. If approved by the commission, the rate increase would go live Jan. 1.

The utilities commission plans to hold its first hearing on the increase Aug. 26 at 10 a.m.

Marion Myers, a 69-year-old Nevada native said the utilities commission couldn’t possibly approve the increase with a good conscience: “It’s a crime.”

Contact reporter Ed Komenda at ekomenda@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0270. Follow him on Twitter @ejkomenda.