Residents vent anger over proposed power rate hike

Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2002 | 9:54 a.m.

Unemployed trailer park resident Elizabeth Lewis said she and her elderly neighbors are tired of paying more for electricity.

So on Tuesday night she gave two members of the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada a piece of her mind.

"We have had a tough time because of Sept. 11," Lewis said. "Look how many people lost their jobs. We're barely getting back on our feet now, so why do this to us?"

The setting was a crowded auditorium at Richard H. Bryan Elementary School in Summerlin, where some 200 area residents gathered to complain about proposed rate increases from Nevada Power Co. The first of three public hearings was designed to "put a face," as commission chairman Donald Soderberg put it, on the impact Nevada Power's request could have on consumers.

Many residents used words such as "greed" and "mismanagement" to describe Nevada Power, noting that its rate hike request comes only a year after residential bills were raised 27 percent. Some suggested that the utility be taken over by state or local government. Others compared the situation to the stock scandal gripping fallen energy giant Enron.

"I know there are a lot of other companies around the United States that sell power for a lot less," resident S. Duane Keiser said. "I personally don't care if Nevada Power is in big trouble. The state should take it over and make it a public utility."

The utility has asked for $921 million over the next three years to pay for energy that Southern Nevadans have already used. Nevada Power also is seeking an additional $22.9 million to help pay for administrative costs such as those associated with the delivery of power to homes and businesses.

If approved by the commission, the rate hikes could mean as much as a 25 percent increase in power bills spread out over three years beginning as early as April 1. The average residential bill, about $185 a month, would climb to roughly $231 a month under that formula.

Nevada Power spokesman Paul Heagen was the target of much of the wrath as the leading company official attending the hearing. He defended the company by stating that it has been the victim of misinformation from critics of the proposed rate hikes.

"Most of you are here in this room because you're confused and frustrated," Heagen said. "Our only concern as a company was to keep Nevada's lights on during one of the most difficult periods of the company's history.

"The only thing we worry about day in and day out is to buy the power that meets our needs. You have a right to know every decision we made and we have nothing to hide."

Heagen said Nevada Power's purchasing decisions were made in response to the energy crisis and rolling blackouts that hit California last year when that state deregulated its electric utilities. The company also has said its costs were adversely impacted by federal energy pricing policies instituted to help California.

But state Consumer Advocate Timothy Hay, who was not in attendance, has said that Nevada Power spent $500 million to $700 million more than it had to over the past two years based on the volume and price it paid for power from other generators.

"What are you going to do with the Social Security people who are just barely making it?" Andrea Hayes complained. "Do you have a compensation plan for them?"

One by one, fellow residents treated Nevada Power like a pinata.

"You are taking a lot of retired people on fixed income with a small pension and forcing them into public assistance," Jerry Krell said. "It has got to stop and it has got to stop now."

Mobile home resident Richard Bianco added a lighthearted touch to the proceedings when he complained that his sister in California, who has five children and a 4,000-square-foot home, pays only $40 more per month for electricity than he does.

"And all I've got is a cat," he said.

There was more than one reference to the high salaries paid to Nevada Power executives, including Heagen.

"You cannot let the electric companies make as much as they're making," Herbert Lubin said. "The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer."

The commission will play host to two more public hearings next Tuesday. One will begin at 9 a.m. at the Henderson Convention Center, 200 Water St. The other will begin at 6 p.m. at the Winchester Community Center, 3130 McLeod Ave.

The commission will then begin taking testimony from Nevada Power as well as representatives of consumers and businesses at hearings in Las Vegas beginning next month.

"So far my impression is that this is something we need to hear," Soderberg said during a break in the public hearing. "This is very important because it gives us the opportunity to understand how this will impact various people."