Overcharged electricity users will get credit on bills

Monday, May 20, 2002 | 11:18 a.m.

The state Public Utilities Commission has asked Nevada Power Co. to eliminate kinks in billing that resulted in some customers being overcharged or undercharged for electricity earlier this year.

Carol Marin, vice president of customer service for Nevada Power, said today that those problems have been eliminated. She said 1,295 of the utility's 650,000 customers were overcharged a combined $3,329 between Feb. 10 and March 31 and will receive credits on their bills over the next month.

Marin also said the company undercharged other customers a combined $71,000 over the same period but has chosen not to collect that money.

The PUC staff report released Friday found no evidence that Nevada Power altered meter reading schedules or improperly billed customers based on consumption that was properly recorded from regularly scheduled meter readings.

Incorrect bills may have been issued because of a new Nevada Power billing system that was installed in February, the report stated.

At the time the new billing system took effect, the bills were calculated based on a state-approved three-tiered consumption system. Under that system customers paid more per kilowatt hour if they were heavy users of electricity and less per kilowatt hour if they used only minimal amounts.

But PUC staff reported that the new billing system was unable to prorate bills properly if billing periods were for less than 28 days or for more than 34 days. The report did not identify examples of customers who were billed for less than 28 days of usage but stated that billing periods greater than 34 days occur as a result of problems related to meter readings.

"Compared with non-tiered rates, improperly billed tiered rates can significantly impact revenues," the report stated. "The length of the billing cycle and difference in meter read dates will have an effect on the amount of consumption charged to a customer during that period."

Although Marin has not yet seen the PUC report, she said Nevada Power agreed that the new billing system had problems prorating bills.

The report also expressed concern that billing problems may have continued when the three-tiered consumption system was replaced on April 1 by a PUC-approved single rate per kilowatt hour. But Marin said prorating is no longer a problem with the single rate. The staff investigation continues.

Nevada Power has been in the news this year because of its shaky financial condition. Company officials have said that the utility was placed in financial jeopardy when the PUC ruled on March 29 to grant Nevada Power only $485 million of the $922 million it is seeking from ratepayers for energy used last year. Unhappy with the ruling, Nevada Power sued the PUC in Carson City District Court in an attempt to receive the full $922 million.