LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Luxury hotel stays, limousine rides, liquor, and overseas flights.
Those are just some of the charges NV Energy wants all of us to pay for. They're charges that the State Bureau of Consumer Protection calls "inappropriate".
Today, state officials have begun hearings to address that.
WATCH: BCP: NV Energy tried to pass on costs of luxury hotel stays, food, alcohol to ratepayers
All year long, ratepayers have been contacting me to share stories about their struggle to just keep the lights on.
Frustration among Las Vegas locals over utility costs is nothing new. However, it keeps growing as we keep exposing what the utility is doing behind the scenes. There is the current investigation into overcharging customers and not giving full refunds.
Now, NV Energy is asking us to reimburse them for corporate costs when they travel and entertain shareholders, at home and abroad. All of that comes on the heels of the utility asking the PUC to raise customers' base rates by up to 9% when current rates are already too much for many Las Vegas families.
Families like Citlali Ayala's.
"I've lived here for 15 years. It's too much to pay for power," she told 13 Investigates. "For example, my apartment, two bedrooms, I pay $250. When I owned my home, I paid that but it was a house with two floors and four bedrooms."
Ayala said she does everything she can to try to save money on her power bill.
"I don't turn on the lights everywhere in my home, only in the place that I am. If I'm in my bedroom, I only use it there," she said. "Also, the laundry, I only use it at night. Why? I try to save power. That way I have money for groceries. What about us? They have to think about us."
Now, she and all NV Energy customers could be forced to pay even more.
According to a filing by the Nevada Attorney General's Bureau of Consumer Protection, NV Energy wants customers to pay back its cost for some offices and staff outside of Nevada — as far away was Washington D.C.
The filing reads in part, "They appear to be for lobbying activities of which no direct benefit to Nevada ratepayers has been identified."
Another expense?
Hotel rooms, food, and alcoholic drinks at Red Rock Resort and Casino for 61 NV Energy employees.
That tab?
Over $1.2 million.
The BCP said it didn't understand why rooms were needed since most of the employees live in the Las Vegas area.
NV Energy also wanted reimbursement for limo rides, a trip to London, and conferences in other states, which the filing says, again, had no benefit to Nevada ratepayers.
You can read the full filing below.
Overall, the BCP identified more than $16 million in what they call "imprudent" expenses that it says the PUC should not allow the utility to pass on to ratepayers. That's in addition to $3 million in expenses, which NV Energy removed after being questioned about the charges.
The Public Utilities Commission is already investigating NV Energy in the wake of our What's The Deal? report from January. PUC staff found that Nevadans were overcharged by more than $17 million going back as far as 2001. That's due to NV Energy charging customers the wrong rate for their property type.
JANUARY 2025: NV Energy overcharges customers but only gives a partial refund
We spoke to officials for CHISPA Nevada, a clean energy and climate activist group that works with the Latino community. They say it's important that we all understand how the system works.
"I think most people depend on utilities and never think past the fact that it's actually a corporation," said Audrey Peral, the program director for CHISPA Nevada. "It's actually a business so they're running a business model trying to consistently increase their profits"
Berkshire Hathaway, owned by Warren Buffett, is NV Energy's parent company.
In the first quarter of this year, Berkshire Hathaway reported earnings of almost $4.6 billion.
And while the company continues to make a profit overall, some Las Vegans are questioning if they can afford to continue living here.
"I thought I'm going to move from this city because this situation keeps going and keeps going," Ayala said. "We need the government, the authorities to do something for us. It's frustrating to live now in Las Vegas."
NV Energy declined our request for an on-camera interview. They sent us a statement that reads in part:
"It was brought to our attention that some corporate expenses, shared with our parent company and affiliates, were accidentally included as part of the pending Southern Nevada general rate review filing. Inappropriate costs have proactively been removed."
We learned that's not entirely true.
A regulatory staffer at the PUC said this isn't the first time NV Energy has requested reimbursement for imprudent charges.
"During staff reviews of NV Energy’s two previous general rate cases, requested costs for reimbursement were discovered that should have been removed," she wrote. "While some of these incidents individually could be chalked up to an innocent mistake, the repeated history of similar mistakes shows NV Energy’s policies and procedures are not being enforced and followed."
DECEMBER 2024: Spa services, first class travel, golf among expenses Nevada utilities tried to pass on to customers
That same frustration was on display in Tuesday morning's hearing as NV Energy executives were called out for dodging accountability.
"The company witnesses have a trend of answering a different question or just being unresponsive," said attorney Laura Granier, who was at the meeting representing Caesars, MGM Resorts, and the Southern Nevada Water Authority. "That often interferes with our cross-examination in these cases."
The first set of hearings are scheduled to run through this Friday. More are scheduled from July 21 through July 25. In-person public comment is not allowed during the hearings. However, you can submit written comments to the PUCN, by filling out the following comment form. The docket number for this specific rate case is 25-02016.
You can see the full schedule of hearings and when you can watch live at the PUCN's website.