Regulators shoot down NV Energy’s proposed rate change

Nevada utility regulators have unanimously denied a request by NV Energy to raise the basic service charge for its Northern Nevada customers by 175 percent, instead on Tuesday awarding the utility just a fraction of its requested amount.

NV Energy, the state’s largest electric utility, had sought to increase the basic service charge — the flat rate customers pay just to have electric service — by $28.80 per month for single-family residential users, while simultaneously lowering how much customers pay for actual energy use.

The request would have increased Northern Nevada’s basic service charge from $16.50 to $45.30 per month and made it the highest in the United States “by a considerable margin,” according to the state’s Bureau of Consumer Protection.