Letter: Nevada Power was swindled

Friday, March 22, 2002 | 9:34 a.m.

No plausible explanation has been offered for the 300 percent price hike forced upon utilities with no long-term contracts or energy producing plants of their own.

Nevada Power, instead of wasting time begging for more money from ratepayers, should be going after the power brokers and natural gas suppliers who put a gun to our collective heads and sold us electricity at exorbitant prices.

The free market was not at work here. Instead, our naive legislators (I'm being charitable), with an ill-conceived deregulation plan, put us at the mercy of price fixers. Instead of jacking up prices to consumers, our utility should be renegotiating with energy producers for reasonable rates.

As a last resort Nevada Power and the state of Nevada should sue the power suppliers or enlist the help of the federal government to fine or jail them for criminal behavior.

ED HAYES

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