LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The Public Utilities Commission of Nevada (PUCN) voted to maintain NV Energy's controversial daily demand charge during a meeting on Tuesday morning.
Nevada regulators met on Tuesday to review reconsideration petitions on the September decision that sparked controversy among customers and advocacy groups.
WATCH: Guy Tannenbaum reports the latest on PUCN's vote to maintain NV Energy's daily demand charge
Concerned NV Energy customers and local advocates testified for close to an hour at Tuesday's meeting urging PUCN commissioners to reconsider their approval of the daily demand charge, but ultimately the commission voted unanimously to uphold it.
NV Energy released a statement to Channel 13 regarding the PUCN's Tuesday decision:
The Nevada Public Utilities Commission delivered a decision today that reaffirms a commitment to fairness for customers that do not have rooftop solar by implementing a new demand charge for Southern Nevada residential and small commercial customers beginning on April 1, 2026. This change creates more equity in the system by making sure solar customers share the cost of keeping the power grid strong and reliable for everyone.
Alice Barnum is a local solar advisor and an NV Energy customer who testified on Tuesday, and told Channel 13 in an interview after the meeting that she was frustrated, feeling like her concerns fell on deaf ears.
"It's almost laughable that they even held this hearing," Barnum said. "It seemed as though they were prepared to just ignore everything and flat out reject this petition."
Chispa Nevada, a local non-profit advocating for environmental justice in Southern Nevada's Latino community, issued the following statement regarding PUCN's decision:
“The Public Utilities Commission has turned their back on Nevada families. Today’s refusal to reconsider their terrible decision shows how out of touch they are with the Nevadans they serve.
New demand charges are a tax on working families who can’t control their schedules and when they need to use electricity. Commissioners heard from hundreds of NV Energy customers who can’t afford another rate increase, and they still sided with the corporation. Nevada’s affordability crisis is only getting worse.
We need state lawmakers to act now to restore fair and predictable rates.”
Channel 13 caught up with Chispa Nevada's Program Director Audrey Peral Tuesday afternoon to get her reaction to the PUCN's vote, who said they're hoping something can still be done to prevent the daily demand charge from taking effect, either through the courts or through the legislature.
"We're incredibly disappointed with the PUCN's decision," Peral said. "We feel that someone needs to act and really protect us all, because utility monopolies are continuing to make millions of dollars while communities are struggling to survive."
Chispa and other local organizations tell Channel 13 they plan to continue their outreach in the wake of the decision, helping them understand that the daily demand charge is coming and how it'll impact their power bill.
The Nevada Attorney General's Office Bureau of Consumer Protection (BCP) was one of the organizations that filed an appeal petition to the PUCN before Tuesday's meeting, asking them to reverse their decision.
A spokesperson for the BCP sent Channel 13 this statement in response to the PUCN's Tuesday vote: "We are disappointed with the decision and are evaluating our next steps."
When the daily demand charge takes effect next April, customers will be charged 14 cents per kilowatt of electricity used during their highest 15-minutes of energy use each day. NV Energy claims this would amount to roughly $20 a month for the average customer,
According to an NV Energy spokesperson we spoke with in September, the average NV Energy customer should not expect to see a significant difference in their power bill.
NV Energy says the daily demand charge for rooftop solar customers helps "fix an inequity between rooftop solar customers and non-rooftop solar customers by ensuring everyone contributes fairly to the grid we all rely on. Rooftop solar customers will see monthly bills increase—on average, about $12 per month."
