Electric bills going up as NV Energy gets approval to raise rates
NV Energy rates will go up for customers in the new year after the public utility received state approval to recoup grid infrastructure improvement costs.
The Public Utilities Commission of Nevada on Monday approved an order that allows NV Energy to increase electric rates to pay for projects that improved the electrical system for Southern Nevada customers, the utility said in a news release.
NV Energy said it is still analyzing the approved rate, and the exact impact on customer rates, based on classes such as single-family and apartment residents, is not set yet. It said it will communicate with customers directly after the full impact is specified.
Also, the utility said it is increasing a service charge on customers’ bills from $12.50 a month to $18.50.
The infrastructure improvement projects included upgrading transmission and distribution lines, replacing older wooden poles with metal poles, undergrounding certain overhead facilities and upgrading grid technologies to be more secure against physical attacks, according to NV Energy.
Previously, the utility said it requested a rate change that would allow it to recover nearly $93 million in additional costs occurring annually.
The changes to the general rate required a more intensive review than quarterly rate changes made for recouping energy costs. NV Energy has filed several quarterly rate changes in 2022 and 2023, but this is the first general rate increase since 2011, according to the company.
It also said it expects fuel costs to decrease over the next year.
“Those savings will be passed on directly to customers through the quarterly adjustment,” according to the Monday news release.
A previous version of this story included an average rate increase inaccurately included in a NV Energy release.
McKenna Ross is a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms. Contact her at mross@reviewjournal.com. Follow @mckenna_ross_ on X.
