Consumer advocate wants rate increase dismissed

Saturday, Feb. 17, 2001 | 9:46 a.m.

"It's procedurally, legally and substantively defective," said Tim Hay, who also is chief of the Attorney General's Bureau of Consumer Protection.

In a document filed with the Public Utilities Commission on Thursday, Hay asked the commission to dismiss the rate increase.

"We are disturbed that anyone who knows the issues could suggest that this crisis isn't real," said Steve Rigazio, president of Nevada Power, which serves Las Vegas.

The PUC has called for a Feb. 23 special meeting to consider the rate increase. The meeting would enable the commission to authorize the rate increase effective March 1 in advance of regulatory review, as requested by the utilities. The PUC also could suspend the rate increase for 150 days of study if it doesn't follow Hay's recommendation for dismissal.

Hay said the utility companies should be bound by the terms of the global settlement in July that allows them to raise rates monthly to recover some of the increasing costs for fuel and wholesale power.

"There was not the ability for them to go around that and file for additional increases," Hay said.

Also, he said state law prohibits Nevada Power and Sierra Pacific from seeking a rate increase more frequently than every 30 days. The $300 million request was filed Jan. 29, less than a month after the PUC asked for a monthly increase for each of the two utilities.