LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The Public Utilities Commission of Nevada is looking at launching an investigation into NV Energy's billing practices following a Channel 13 investigation.
In January, we introduced you to Carlin Dinola, a woman who is one of tens of thousands of NV Energy customers who received a letter stating they had been overcharged by the utility company.
NV Energy overcharged her more than twice the monthly basic service charge for the last six years. She told us that she should have been reimbursed fully, which would have equated to over $1,100, but only received six months of overcharges, which was $95.
DARCY WHAT'S THE DEAL: NV Energy overcharges customers but only gives a partial refund
For months, we have been asking NV Energy how many people have been overcharged and only received the following statement.
"In a recent review, we discovered certain customers had been charged the wrong rate for their property type. In some cases, customers were overcharged and in some cases, customers were undercharged. NV Energy refunded the overcharged customers in accordance with the applicable rules and is not seeking repayment by those customers who were undercharged."
On Wednesday, the number of impacted customers was released after the PUCN began looking into NV Energy.
According to a document from the PUCN's Regulatory Operations Staff, they discovered NV Energy has been overcharging tens of thousands of misclassified residential customers since as early as 2001. That's when the utility company adopted the multi-family rate schedule.
For example, between April 1, 2017 and April 1, 2024, the document states NV Energy's residential rate misclassifications resulted in approximately 60,000 customers being overcharged in excess of $17 million. NV Energy also disclosed that it had overcharged approximately 20,000 previously unidentified "multi-family accounts" for an undisclosed amount.
"Despite overcharging more than 80,000 customers for up to 23 years, NV Energy only provided refunds to a portion of affected customers," the document reads in part. "For the customers who received them, NV Energy capped refunds to six months, amounting to less than $2 million in refunds. "
In addition to customers being overcharged, NV Energy disconnected service for 3,177 customers for nonpayment.
"Given the number of customers whose accounts were disconnected for nonpayment, it is reasonable to infer that overbilling contributed to, if not caused, nonpayment and related service disconnections in some instances," the document states.
It's also unclear how many customers were affected between January 1, 2001 and June 22, 2017 because NV Energy "claims it lacks billing data" for those dates.
PUCN staff write that NV Energy did not voluntarily disclose the misclassifications and that staff only learned about it through consumer complaints about insufficient refunds.
The issue still may not be fixed. The document states that on April 29, 2025, NV Energy informed PUCN staff that it identified 20,000 new misclassified "multi-family accounts."
Due to these issues, PUCN staff have requested that the commission open an investigation to address NV Energy's residential rate misclassifications, including "identifying whether NV Energy misapplied its tariffs and what the appropriate remedies are for overcharged customers" and any other remedies the commission deems appropriate.
READ FULL FILING
Rules regarding NV Energy are called tariffs. In a document that dates back to 1980, the utility only has to recalculate bills from the six months prior to the date the error was discovered. However, a bill at the state level could address that.
Assembly Bill 452 would make NV Energy bear more of the burden for higher fuel costs and pay up when the utility makes mistakes on customers' bills.
"If I get to overcharge you and I'm only on the hook to pay you back for six months of those overages, then I think that's communicating to the customer that if we can take advantage of you, maybe we will," Nevada Conservation League Executive Director Kristee Watson told us in April.
In April, state lawmakers asked NV Energy officials how big of an effect this would have if the utility refunded people what they were overcharged.
"I do not have those numbers in front of me today," NV Energy Vice President Janet Wells said during the April hearing.
DARCY WHAT'S THE DEAL: State law change would ensure full refund for customers overcharged on energy bills
In a separate hearing, Wells said the utility is against the bill, which would lead to "risky and costly changes in how Nevada procures and seeks recovery of fuel purchase power costs."
"Put simply, the existing system works. This bill attempts to provide a solution for a problem that simply doesn't exist," Wells told the Assembly Committee on Growth and Infrastructure. "The idea that customers are unprotected or that utilities lack incentive to manage costs simply isn't true."
It's a statement that Watson doesn't agree with. She sent the following statement to Channel 13 following Wednesday's filing.
"Nevadans are once again paying the price for NV Energy's latest fiasco. They are a monopoly utility that families and small businesses must rely on. That means NV Energy has a responsibility to get it right. Instead, they stole more than $17 million from over 80,000 customers and didn't say a word until regulators stepped in, disconnecting power to impacted customers in some instances. The corporate shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway must pay back every dollar owed, with interest, as soon as possible.
And even more concerning, NV Energy is lobbying against Assembly Bill 452 — a bill that would require them to fully fund customers when they make these kinds of mistakes and ensure stronger oversight on the costs passed on to customers — in bad faith. If this doesn't show why accountability and action are urgently needed, I don't know what does."
AB 452 is waiting to be voted on in the Senate Growth and Infrastructure Committee.
