EDITORIAL: Utility bills padded with numerous fees and charges

Local homeowners are scouring their water bills these days to see if they’ve been hit with the Las Vegas Valley Water District’s new “excessive use” fee. Nearly 60,000 customers have incurred the fine in the past few months, which has averaged about $91.

Many residents are upset with the levy’s one-size-fits-all approach. But at least the water district has been upfront about the charge. Most utility bills are larded with fees and taxes that go virtually unnoticed yet raise millions of dollars from customers, who rarely go over the charges in detail. Politicians or regulators impose the bulk of these stealth taxes, hoping to raise money without riling the masses.

Consider the humble electric bill. NV Energy customers pay for far more than just their electricity consumption. There are charges for temporary “Green Power Financing,” a “Deferred Energy Adjustment,” a “Renewable Energy Program” and a “Natural Disaster Protection Plan.” A typical monthly bill also includes an “Energy Efficiency Charge,” a “Universal Energy Charge” and a “Local Government Fee.” These fees can add 30 percent or more to a monthly invoice.

The dwindling number of landline customers see numerous extra charges larded onto their bills. Start with a “Universal Service Fund Surcharge” applied by both the federal government and the city of Las Vegas. Then there’s a “Property Tax Recovery Fee,” a “Regulatory Recovery Fee,” a “Nevada Modified Business Tax Surcharge” and a Nevada “Telecommunications Relay Service Surcharge.”

Those who haven’t cut the cord and still subscribe to cable or satellite TV services are a favorite target for proponents of hidden surcharges. Cox customers pay a monthly “FCC Fee” and a “Franchise Fee” for the privilege of basic cable.

Meanwhile, a Southwest Gas bill includes various local taxes and a “Universal Energy Charge.” An invoice from Republic Services hits up customers for a “Las Vegas Environmental Surchrg” and a “Commerce Tax Recovery Fee.”

And back to the water district. In addition to the new charge for higher water use, a bill features a Southern Nevada Water Authority “Commodity Charge,” “Infrastructure Charge” and “Reliability Surcharge.”

Nevada is no outlier. A 2019 piece by ProPublica found that “across the nation, local and state governments have turned to utilities to address acute and pervasive infrastructure needs, while utility companies have looked to surcharges as a way to finance those projects — and ensure steady profits.”

In some cases the fees were imposed to cover pension costs or tree trimming, the news outlet revealed.

The water district’s excessive use fee is hard to conceal. The same can’t be said for the dozens of surcharges that utilities levy at the behest of politicians seeking to create revenue sources buried in the fine print.