LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — State investigators have "largely completed" their probe into NV Energy's overcharging scandal and are urging the Public Utilities Commission to hold the power company accountable for nearly $65.5 million in customer overcharges spanning more than two decades.
According to new documents filed in the state's ongoing case, the PUC's regulatory staff says no further investigation is necessary and "Staff is confident that the Commission has the information it needs to move forward" in rendering its decision on what remedy it will issue in response to NV Energy's overcharges, signaling the end may be near for a saga that intensified throughout 2025.
WATCH| Darcy Spears reports the latest on NV Energy overcharge scandal
The investigation began after Las Vegas resident Carlin Dinola shared her story, asking "Darcy, what's the deal?" with customers being overcharged by NV Energy.
PREVIOUS STORY| NV Energy overcharges customers but only gives a partial refund
"I was robbed. That's what it feels like," Dinola said.
Last December, Dinola received a letter from NV Energy saying the utility had charged her the wrong rate for her property type for all six years she'd lived in her home.
"I was shocked! I was very shocked," Dinola said.
Especially because the letter stated NV Energy would reimburse her for only six months worth of overcharging, despite the six-year error.
Since that story aired, PUC staff determined Dinola was one of more than 100,000 Nevadans who NV Energy has collectively overcharged nearly $65.5 million over more than two decades.
"We deserve full refunds, clear answers, and assurances that this won't happen again," said Garrity Pruitt of Utility Watch Nevada.
PUC staff agrees with Pruitt, stating in Monday's filing that the law requires NV Energy to fully refund overcharges for the entire time they were happening, "along with annually compounding interest... given the financial losses NV Energy's negligence caused customers."
NV Energy has claimed it couldn't issue refunds beyond seven years because it purged all billing records prior to June 2017. But PUC staff found that's not true, writing in the new filing, "In as much as NV Energy claims it cannot trace these overcharges to individual impacted customers, NV Energy is wrong."
Staff discovered NV Energy has all the data it needs to provide full refunds going back to 2002.
"What they did for 23 years is absurd! This wasn't just a casual mistake," said Camalot Todd of the Nevada Conservation League.
Given the magnitude of the misclassification problem, PUC staff believes more impacted customers will be discovered in the future and that they should be reimbursed too.
The Attorney General's Bureau of Consumer Protection, which also filed a new document in the case, says any money that can't be traced back to a specific customer should go to the Nevada Treasury Unclaimed Property so NV Energy can't continue to "improperly profit" from money that does not belong to the utility — money NV Energy has taken and largely kept that "knowingly belongs to customers."
PUC staff says, in addition to the refunds plus interest, NV Energy should be required to complete periodic audits to make sure rate classifications are accurate. Staff also wants commissioners to force the utility to keep all billing records indefinitely, and ensure that newly established controls to prevent this from happening again are built into the new "Customer to Meter" system NV Energy will roll out in late 2028.
The PUC has scheduled another public workshop to discuss all of this on Jan. 21 at 10:00 A.M. It will be videoconferenced to Hearing Room A at the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada, located at 9075 West Diablo Drive, Suite 250. Members of the public may participate in person or access the workshop via the Commission's live stream link on its website. A period will be provided for public comments (which may be limited to three minutes per person at the discretion of the presiding officer) and discussion of those comments.
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