Nevada’s March 1 deregulation canceled

Brendan Riley

Tuesday, Feb. 29, 2000 | 10:06 a.m.

CARSON CITY, Nev. - As expected, Nevada has pulled the plug on its scheduled Wednesday startup of electricity deregulation.

Gov. Kenny Guinn said Monday he'll instead hold a summit meeting of major participants in deregulation negotiations to find a way to overcome legal and technical obstacles.

"Many of the problems ... are out of our hands and must be decided by the courts or the federal government, so there are certainly limits on what we can achieve at this meeting," Guinn said.

"However, I want to make sure that all parties are communicating effectively and working toward the same goal," the first-term Republican governor and former utility executive said.

"I'm very disappointed we weren't able to meet the March 1 deadline but I was absolutely opposed to proceeding with deregulation before we were ready - and we're not ready."

State Consumer Advocate Fred Schmidt says the delay won't harm consumers. He notes that rates paid by residential consumers are frozen until March 2003.

No date has been set for the summit meeting, and no new deadline has been set for the start of deregulation. The governor's office said 2 1/2 weeks ago that the March 1 deadline probably wouldn't be met.

Those invited to the summit meeting will include representatives of Nevada power companies, the state Consumer Advocate's Office and gambling and mining industry representatives.

State Public Utilities Commission staffers will attend but not the commissioners themselves, who would have to approve any agreement reached at the meeting.

Some unresolved issues include how to police distribution of electricity from multiple providers over existing power lines, and access to existing transmission lines by outside providers.

Sierra Pacific in northern Nevada and Nevada Power in the south are the main electric providers in the state until deregulation takes effect as directed by the 1999 Legislature. Several smaller companies also provide power in outlying areas.

While state lawmakers had set March 1 for the start of deregulation, they also gave the governor leeway to change the date "if in the public interest."

State Sen. Randolph Townsend, R-Reno, a key player in the deregulation legislation, had recommended Guinn postpone the starting date by several months, saying, "We want to do this right the first time."