Voters’ views on utility wanted

Adrienne Packer and Erin Neff

Wednesday, June 26, 2002 | 11:19 a.m.

Ballot question

"Should the Nevada Legislature enact statutes that would enable the electrical energy provider for Southern Nevada to be a locally controlled not-for-profit public utility?"

In the first overt political move since Nevada Power's threat to raise rates, Clark County commissioners will ask voters whether they would rather a public agency provide electricity in Southern Nevada.

Commissioner Yvonne Atkinson Gates is sponsoring an advisory ballot question asking residents whether the state Legislature should enact new laws that would allow the county to create a nonprofit utility.

Atkinson Gates began investigating the possibility more than a year ago, but said now she is receiving more calls from constituents panicked about power bills.

"We're hitting 100-something degrees," Atkinson Gates said. "People are wondering, 'Do we pay power bills? Leave the power on? Turn it off? Do we buy food? Medicine?' Those kinds of things.

"That's the impetus of everything."

The commission will vote Tuesday on whether to pose the question during the November general election. Tuesday's meeting is the commission's last before the July 15 deadline for ballot initiative requests.

Public agencies often can provide lower rates because they are nonprofit utilities and do not have to be concerned with paying investors.

State legislators will likely discuss the possibility during its next session, which begins in February 2003.

Last session, lawmakers passed a statute prohibiting local jurisdictions from creating utility agencies without the consent of the existing provider. That law "sunsets" July 1, 2003.

Still, Nevada legislators are skeptical of Atkinson Gates' proposal.

Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins, D-Henderson, said he would consider such a proposal. He said he agrees in theory that any attempt to create a "reliable, efficient and affordable energy source" is good for the state.

However, Perkins questioned putting the issue to voters before the Legislature has a chance to debate the merits of such a proposal.

"Generally they bring it to the Legislature and not in an advisory question," Perkins said. "I'd prefer to have it discussed out in the open forum of the legislative process than in a media war to have people vote for it."

Assemblyman Bob Beers, R-Las Vegas, said he does not believe it makes sense to create a public utility.

"I have long believed that if you have a given task that needs to be done and a pile of money to do it, having the government do it is going to result in a lot more of that money wasted than the private entity would take out as a profit," Beers said. "I just don't see how it would be better."

Nevada Power Co. spokeswoman Andrea Smith said Tuesday that the Las Vegas utility is reviewing Atkinson Gates' proposal.

"We're studying it, and we'll be interested in what the commission does when it comes up on Tuesday," Smith said. "We'll be listening closely to what the commission has to say."

The Southern Nevada Water Authority, Nevada Power's largest customer, has previously suggested that a publicly run electric company for the Las Vegas Valley is an idea worth considering.

Some Nevada Power critics have suggested that the water authority take over the generation and distribution of electricity in Southern Nevada. But water authority spokesman Vince Alberta said the agency would take no position on a ballot initiative.

"It's their idea," Alberta said of the County Commission. "We will not take a position on it. What we want is what's best for the public."

Pat Mulroy, general manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority, has been mentioned as a potential candidate to run the electric utility if it was created.

But Atkinson Gates emphasized Tuesday that Mulroy was not involved in any discussions about the proposal.

"All I'm trying to find out is if the public is interested in having another option out there," she said.