Nevada Senate OKs electric measure

Thursday, May 31, 2001 | 10:59 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Assembly Bill 661 allowing big users such as casinos and mines to leave the current power system in Nevada survived its first test on the Senate floor Wednesday.

By a voice vote with only a few members dissenting, the Senate approved key amendments to the bill.

Proponents said that by allowing the big users to depart the system, it will leave more low-cost electricity for small businesses and homeowners. But opponents complained small users like individual consumers won't have a chance to seek cheaper electric rates under the bill.

The bill is expected to run into opposition in the Assembly. And Sen. Randolph Townsend, R-Reno, said he would meet with Assembly leaders to iron out the differences.

Townsend said 15 percent of the electricity supplied by Nevada Power Co. in Las Vegas would be eligible to leave the system. Users of this power include big casinos, hospitals, government agencies, schools, UNLV and the Community College System.

Sen. Mark Amodei, R-Carson City, said big customers will leave the system at their own risk. "This looks after the little guy," he said.

But Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas, said this amendment "makes a bad bill worse." She complained that "big gaming, big mining and BMI (an industrial complex in Henderson)" would be able to depart to get cheaper power.

She complained the amendment offers consumers no protection. She said it does not require the state Public Utilities Commission to hold a hearing before approving any rate increase. But Townsend said that was already included in a bill passed earlier.

The amendment, Titus said, scraps creation of a task force on encouraging the use of renewable fuel, such as wind, solar and geothermal. Townsend said the governor can create such a committee.

Sen. Joe Neal, D-Las Vegas, complained the bill would allow deregulation, with the big users negotiating outside the system for their own power. He predicted tremendous increases in residential rates.

Under the amendment, Townsend estimated about 180 companies -- more than 95 percent of them in Las Vegas -- would be able to leave the current electric system.

The bill limits the pullouts however, he said. Nevada Power Co. has a normal load of 2,500 megawatts. The state would not permit companies to leave that would cut that load by more than 50 percent.

In addition, Townsend said the bill requires that only 80 percent of a company can pull out of the system. The other 20 percent must continue to receive its supply from Nevada Power Co. That provision, he said, is aimed at allowing more companies to pull out.

The Senate votes today on the bill and sends it back to the Assembly.