LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Dozens of Las Vegas locals made their voices heard Wednesday night in front of NV Energy representatives.
The Public Utilities Commission of Nevada (PUCN) hosted two consumer sessions, designed to hear from the public regarding a new rate hike increase application from NV Energy.
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The application was filed with the PUCN in February, but officials say the commission will not send in their recommendation to approve, deny or change the application until September.
Until then, several more consumer sessions are scheduled to hear your opinion about this application. For a list of these consumer sessions, click here.
From gathering outside of the meetings Wednesday, to bringing their concerns directly to the utility.
“I think Nevada Energy has a responsibility to the public to look within themselves and look and see if they can curtail any waste before they come to us and ask for a rate increase," said NV Energy customer Phillip LoVerde.
Several locals tell me they're struggling with increased prices in different industries already.
“I won’t have extra money to do other things, other activities with my kids over the Summer," said Las Vegas single mother Sandy Julian.
Julian is a mom to 4 kids.
“It’s affecting families like mine," said Julian.
The two meetings held on Wednesday were to discuss the rate hike application.
It includes a 9% rate hike, which would equate to about an extra $20 per month for the average customer.
“When I heard that Nevada Energy wanted to raise our monthly rates, I was disappointed because I know what that means for families like mine. It means more nights deciding what bill I can pay, it means being on a budget, this affects all of us," said Julian.
The application would also change solar, as they look into ways to change net metering, allowing new solar customers to make less off of the energy they don't use and sell back to the grid.
NV Energy says this would not impact current solar users, but would rather impact people after October, if implemented.
The application also looks into a new demand charge to discourage high energy usage during peak hours when the grid is under the most strain. Plus, low-income assistance helping out people at or below 150% of the federal poverty level.
NV Energy spokesperson Meghin Delaney says the money they receive from the rate increase would cover the cost of current improvements they've made to their services.
“Primarily, a rate increase seeks to recover costs NV Energy has already made, NV Energy has already put money into our system," said Delaney.
Some say a recent overcharging debacle identified by the reporting of 13 Investigates, launching an investigation of 88,000 customers being overcharged more than $17 Million, has led to mistrust.
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“You know they’ve broken our trust, and we deserve transparency," said Julian.
Delaney says they're working to address that.
I asked her, if someone has a lack of trust due to the overcharging investigation, why should they trust the utility with another rate hike.
"I appreciate where folks are coming from and where they feel that sentiment, and all I can say is we’re going to do our best to earn folks trust back," said Delaney.
Once again, this rate hike application has not been passed, there's still several consumer meetings needed before the commission makes a decision.
If it is passed through, the earliest you'll see an impact is in October, when some of it would go into effect, but some elements would also take until next year to be implemented.
