Letter: ‘Perfect storm’ defense by utility is bankrupt

Tuesday, March 19, 2002 | 8:56 a.m.

Nevada Power is doing a lousy job of selling Southern Nevada on its $922 million increase.

The company claims that it didn't sign long-term, less-expensive contracts because of deregulation uncertainties which left it wondering how many customers it would have.

But it seems that when Nevada Power finally did make its purchases, it bought much more power than it needed anyway. Nevada Power claims that the "perfect storm" created extraordinary circumstances which led to the inevitable rate increase, and that we should all fall on our knees and thank it for "keeping the lights on" in Southern Nevada.

However, Southwest Gas sailed through the same "perfect storm" with wildly fluctuating commodity prices and has since decreased its rate. Now it angers me that Nevada Power is threatening us with power shortages this summer because of the scrutiny it is facing for its purchasing decisions. My question is: Do we really want these guys negotiating our power bills at all?

Southern Nevada citizens will most likely pay whether Nevada Power gets its rate hike or goes bankrupt. But at least through bankruptcy a new company might emerge that could service its customers more prudently.

Utilities are serious business. How many chances do we give them?

DAVID KOWALESKI