State approves rate hike

Friday, Jan. 26, 2001 | 11:19 a.m.

Nevada Power customers will see an average increase of 46 cents per month in their power bills in February under a rate hike approved Thursday by the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada.

The commission approved a hike of 0.042 cents per kilowatt-hour, or about 0.5 percent, for residential customers effective Feb. 1. The average residential customer consumes about 1,100 kilowatt-hours of electricity a month.

Nonresidential rates were increased by 0.054 cents per kilowatt-hour.

The increase is designed to partially cover Nevada Power's increased costs of purchasing fuel and electricity, rather than increasing the company's profit margin. The commission approved the hike after determining that Nevada Power's natural gas costs were up 56 percent in October over 1999 levels, and purchased power costs were up 49 percent.

Since Aug. 1, Nevada Power has raised residential customer bills by an average of about $10 per month under terms of a settlement reached with the PUCN in March.

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