Two resorts impose energy surcharge

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Thursday, April 12, 2001 | 10:08 a.m.

While room rates apparently head down on the Strip, Harrah's Entertainment Inc. is raising them in response to Nevada's possible energy shortage.

Starting last week, Harrah's Las Vegas and the Rio hotel-casinos began charging guests a $3 "energy surcharge" for each night at the hotels, the news channel Las Vegas ONE reported.

Guests staying in comped rooms will be exempt from the surcharge.

Harrah's spokesman Gary Thompson said the move is an effort to cope with soaring electricity and natural gas costs.

"Our energy costs have more than doubled, and we're doing what any prudent business would do in passing some of these costs on to our customers," Thompson said. "It's a relatively modest charge."

It's unclear how much extra revenue the surcharge will raise for the hotels, since so many rooms are comped and exempt from the surcharge -- and because Las Vegas room rates fluctuate dramatically based on demand.