LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Customers could soon be footing the bill for over $230 million in upcoming Southwest Gas projects.
That's according to the company's proposed Triennial Plan, which was filed in September. The Public Utilities Commission of Nevada is set to discuss the plan on Thursday morning.
When looking at the plan, that includes costs associated with multiple proposed projects like the Tule Springs Project.
"When [Tule Springs] reaches its estimated completion in 2028, Southwest Gas will serve approximately 10,000 new homes," the filing states. "This project affords the Company the opportunity to install high-pressure facilities to provide continued safe and reliable natural gas to its existing customers while meeting demand and customer growth. The estimated cost for the Tule Springs Project during the action plan period is approximately $10.5 million."
The utility is also looking at a project in Summerlin West.
"The project is contiguous to the Company's existing infrastructure and is located within its certificated service area, however, the undeveloped area lacks gas infrastructure," the filing reads. "Given the lack of gas infrastructure, the project required the construction of high-pressure distribution main and a regulator station, which will supply gas to low-pressure distribution mains and service lines. The estimated cost for the Summerlin West Project during the action plan period is approximately $8 million."
When you add up the costs of all of those projects combined, it equates to about $238 million between 2026 and 2028, or about $79 million per year.
The plan also states Southwest Gas is planning on passing most of those costs on to customers.
"Southwest Gas proposes that all costs associated with the Resource Plan be recovered through the general rate case application process or through a Commission-approved alternative rate-making plan," the document reads in part.
You can read the Triennial Plan in full below
However, some are critical of the utility's plans.
Robert Napper, who testified on behalf of the Bureau of Consumer Protection, said Southwest Gas "has failed to demonstrate that the Tule Springs and Summerlin West expansion projects are reasonably designed to meet actual need — including the developments themselves and the additional capacity the pipelines serve" and "Southwest Gas has failed to demonstrate that its forecast costs for these projects are reasonable."
In addition to those two projects, Napper recommended that Southwest Gas needs to:
- Provide detailed, itemized cost estimates for projects that qualify for reporting in Resource Plans
- Provide an understanding to stakeholders of the way SWG categorizes projects, establishes cost controls for projects, and monitors costs of projects
- Provide better documentation showing what the capital planning pertains to
You can read Napper's full testimony below.
Rick Brown testified on behalf of Clean Energy Advocates, a group made up of Western Resource Advocates, Advanced Energy United, and the Southwest Energy Efficiency Project. He said more needs to be provided in order for those expenses to be approved.
"I understand this is the first IRP undertaken, and expectations may not be understood. However, in general, SW Gas' IRP did not provide adequate information to justify many of their proposed projects or programs," his testimony reads in part. "While these projects or programs may be prudent, it is not possible to find them prudent given the inadequate information provided."
Some examples he gave included:
- A lack of alternative analysis for SW Gas' proposed projects or programs
- A lack of economic analysis for alternatives to the proposed projects or programs to assess whether cost-efficient alternatives were proposed
- Not demonstrating that the systems they were adding capacity to had insufficient capacity
- Increasing system capacity for growth, but no quantified growth forecast is provided to justify the capacity projects
You can weigh in on this docket at the PUC meetings on Thursday and Friday. Their office is located off of Fort Apache and Diablo at 9075 W. Diablo Drive, Suite 250. The hearing on Thursday starts at 10 a.m.
That's not the only reason why gas prices could continue rising over the next couple of years.
In the last general rate case, the PUC authorized $59 million in revenue increases in Nevada, which went into effect in April 2024.
FEBRUARY 2024: PUC considers Southwest Gas rate increase application
In November, Southwest Gas filed its 2025 Annual Rate Adjustment Application, requesting another statewide increase of $13 million, with those rates expected to become effective on July 1, 2026.
The company has also filed a Notice of Intent to file a general rate case in March 2026 for "an adjustment in rates to reflect its current cost of providing service, including updating the cost of capital, along with a request to continue the general revenue decoupling methodology."
You may remember that last June, Gov. Lombardo signed Senate Bill 417 into law, which allows utilities to create alternative ratemaking plans in Nevada. Southwest Gas has started looking into that, which could affect future gas prices while also boosting the shareholders' bottom line.
"We expect to see significant earnings per share growth of 12% to 14% from 2025 to 2030, driven by anticipated improvements in our regulatory environments, with the includes of Arizona formula rates and alternative rate-making in Nevada, along with the opportunity we project to materialize at Great Basin Northern Nevada," Karen Haller, President and CEO of Southwest Gas Holdings, told investors during the company's 2025 Fourth Quarter Earnings Call on Wednesday. "Because of these opportunities, this growth is expected to be front-end loaded over the first three years, so we expect the earnings growth rate to be even higher in 2028 to 2029."
According to Justin Brown, President of Southwest Gas Corporation, those alternative ratemaking adjustments could begin as early as 2028.
"The Public Utilities Commission of Nevada has continued its rulemaking workshops to implement the legislation, with recent sessions focused on draft policy language and stakeholder consensus," Brown said. "We are encouraged by the progress, and we continue to work collaboratively with all stakeholders."
The first workshop was held in September, and the latest workshop was last week.
"I think the good thing about the Commission is they really kind of put an emphasis on trying to get consensus among the stakeholders," Brown said. "There is a lot of work around evaluating, kind of, the competing interests of different language people want, what is required by the legislation. ... I think we feel pretty good about we are getting near the end. And so, we anticipate probably getting some kind of draft consensus regulations out from the Commission here over the next month or two."
Southwest Gas also reported an increase in net income by 8.7% when comparing 2024 to 2025, bringing in $283.9 million over the last year.
Southwest Gas Releases 2025 Fourth Quarter Earnings