PUC to hear from merger opponents

Wednesday, Aug. 26, 1998 | 11:47 a.m.

The Public Utilities Commission will hold a pre-hearing conference at the Sawyer Building in Las Vegas, where intervenors can bring up any deficiencies they see in the merger application pending with the PUC.

"Any of those type of matters we would address when they come up," said Tom Henley, a spokesman for Nevada Power.

State Consumer Advocate Fred Schmidt said he hasn't decided whether to support the merger, but is making it one of his top priorities.

"A merger of this magnitude and impact on the utilities of Nevada should be carefully and thoroughly analyzed before it's approved," Schmidt said.

He wants the commission to delay hearings until November to give his witnesses time to study the merger, but noted that action must be taken by Jan. 4 under PUC rules.

Schmidt retained Utiltech Inc. of Kansas City, Mo., to study how much cost savings might result from the merger and other financial matters. A well-known research think tank from Boston, the Tellus Institute, will review considerations of market power, market share and antitrust concerns for Schmidt's office.

The merger has received little public scrutiny so far, because the utilities haven't yet submitted documentation to shareholders who will be asked to approve it.

Nevada Power and Sierra Resources propose to sell their power plants as part of the merger.

Among those asking to intervene in the case are: the Department of Energy; Colorado River Commission; the California Department of Water Resources; Valley Electric Association which serves Pahrump; Enron Corp., a group of independent power producers serving Nevada Power; Southwest Gas Corp.; gold mine operators; and the Southern Nevada Water Authority.