Rate freeze advances

Monday, April 12, 1999 | 10:46 a.m.

Consumers will also be able to shop around for lower rates from new companies that enter the Nevada market.

Committee Chairman Randolph Townsend, R-Reno, said a second protection in Senate Bill 428 is that customers will not be assigned to any new company during the three-year period. "They will stay exactly where they are unless they choose to go to a different provider until March 1, 2003," said Townsend, who proposed the plan.

Judy Sheldrew, chairwoman of the state Public Utilities Commission, declined to say whether consumers would be better off under the Townsend plan.

"That's a hard question to answer until we see the specifics of the language," she said. "I hate to speculate at this point."

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