CARSON CITY, Nev. — Nevada Energy customers will soon have to pay a higher basic service rate, though it is much lower than what the utility company was originally proposing. Typically energy rate hikes are not celebrated, but the rate increase approved Tuesday by the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada (PUCN) was a win for many customers and environmental activists in attendance.
"The decision that was made today by the PUC was a win for the people. They really heard the outcry from hundreds of people who attended and spoke out, wrote to the commission to object to the change that NV Energy had requested," one customer and member of Nevada Clinicians For Climate Action Sandra Koch said.
The new rate will increase the current one by about $2, about 10 times less than the energy company's original proposal of a nearly $30 monthly increase on the base rate. Commissioner Randy Brown said during Tuesday's meeting that NV Energy failed to prove to the commission that it needed all of the money its proposed $45 base rate would create.
"Sierra Pacific proposed to increase the basic service charge for single-family residential customers from $16.50 to $45.30, a number that I believe is much too high," Commissioner Brown said.
Over the past few months since the proposal was first made by NV Energy, customers and community members have come out in strong opposition, with some of their main concerns being the financial burden it would place on low-income and fixed-income customers, as well as the effect it would have on the environment.
"For rooftop solar customers, they would have had to pay almost $50 to NV Energy on top of what they're paying for their solar panels, even if they're generating 100% of their own power," Executive Director of the Sierra Club's Toiyabe chapter Olivia Tanager said.
In a statement, NV Energy wrote in part, "NV Energy teams are already in the process of analyzing the various components of the order and what it means to Northern Nevada customer bills and rates. We appreciate the work of the PUCN on this case."