Democratic leaders urge GOP gov to delay electric deregulation

Brendan Riley

Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2000 | 10:45 a.m.

CARSON CITY - Top legislative Democrats urged Republican Gov. Kenny Guinn on Tuesday to not start electrical deregulation in Nevada without safeguards to hold down consumers' power bills.

Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus, Assembly Majority Leader Richard Perkins and Assembly Assistant Majority Leader Barbara Buckley said a deregulation law passed in 1999 had a 3-year rate freeze - but that's been ignored.

The lawmakers cited recent agreements between big electrical power users and utilities and rate hikes approved by the state Public Utilities Commission.

They questioned whether the PUC has legal authority to disregard the law, adding that consumers "could face dramatic increases in their monthly power bills if there are not safeguards in place."

Guinn spokesman Jack Finn said the governor appreciated the lawmakers' concerns and will have "the interests of residential ratepayers at heart" when he decides on a delay.

Finn also said Guinn is still gathering information and will discuss deregulation this week with PUC Chairman Don Soderberg, but isn't locked in on a deadline for his decision. Earlier, the governor had said he hoped to decide by late-September on whether to delay competition so that the 2001 Legislature can study the issue.

Rate hikes recently approved by the PUC allow for residential rate hikes of about 7 percent between July and the end of September.

And under an agreement reached by large power users and utilities this summer, more monthly rate hikes could result in "a potential worst-case scenario of as much as a 64 percent increase in residential rates over the next 30 months," the lawmakers said.

The agreement was reached by the parent company of Las Vegas-based Nevada Power and Reno-based Sierra Pacific Power Co., the PUC staff, Attorney General's Bureau of Consumer Protection and three major casino operators.

The monthly adjustments are designed to compensate the utilities for some of increased costs they incur buying power wholesale and buying fuel for their generation plants.

"If the deal made between the utilities and regulators moves forward, large users can look for power elsewhere this November while residential users cannot shop for power on the open market until September of 2001," the Democratic legislators said in a statement.

If the rate freeze in the 1999 deregulation measure is being ignored, they added the entire deregulation plan should be reviewed by Nevada lawmakers who will convene their 2001 session in February.

"We don't want to see problems like the ones they are facing in San Diego happen here," they said. "We are asking the governor to put deregulation on hold until we can make sure that the people we represent, the people he represents, can be protected."

Besides the Democratic legislative leaders' request for a delay, Sen. Joe Neal, D-North Las Vegas, has submitted a bill proposal that would reverse deregulation.