One power rate will fit all residents

Tuesday, April 2, 2002 | 9:47 a.m.

New residential electricity rates that took effect Monday for the coming year will result in smaller increases for consumers who use the most energy but higher rates for those who use the least.

Nevada Power Co. filed rates with the state Public Utilities Commission that call for residents of single-family homes to pay 8.834 cents per kilowatt hour and apartment dwellers to pay 8.747 cents per kilowatt hour regardless of the amount of energy they use.

The commission eliminated the current three-tiered pricing system that charged all residential customers 7.4 cents per kilowatt hour for the first 400 kilowatts a month, 8.9 cents for 401 to 675 kilowatts and 9.4 cents for 676 kilowatts and above.

Any single-family homeowner who averages at least 1,700 kilowatts a month and any apartment dweller who averages at least 1,500 kilowatts a month will see their bills go down. Conversely, anyone who averages less than those amounts will see their bills go up. The less they use, the higher the percentage of increase.

For instance, residents of single-family homes who use only 400 kilowatts a month will see their bills climb from $34.65 to $40.34, a 16.4 percent increase. But the more typical homeowner who uses 1,300 kilowatts a month will see bills increase from $117.99 to only $119.84, a 1.6 percent rise. A homeowner who uses 5,000 kilowatts a month would see bills drop from $466.28 to $446.70, a 4.2 percent decline.