Group says Nevada Power disclosures were improper

Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2002 | 11:13 a.m.

A citizens group is alleging that Nevada Power Co. and fellow opponents of the successful Question 14 public power ballot measure failed to properly disclose all campaign expenditures leading up to the Nov. 5 general election.

Citizens For Yes on Q14 filed a complaint this morning with the Nevada Secretary of State Election Division. The complaint focuses on expenditures that the group claims were made in August and September.

The complaint alleges that Nevada Power and fellow ballot measure opponents -- including the Nevada Taxpayers Association, Utility Shareholders Association of Nevada, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 396 and Nevada Manufacturers Association -- failed to disclose what they spent in August on their failed attempt to persuade the Nevada Supreme Court to reject the ballot measure.

Nevada Power spokeswoman Sonya Headen declined to comment on the complaint this morning. But Reno attorney John Sande, resident agent for the Citizens Against 14 political action committee that included Nevada Power, said that litigation expenses are not covered by Nevada election disclosure laws and therefore do not have to be reported.

"Litigation is not related to what you have to disclose according to our election disclosure laws," Sande said.

It was also alleged that Sprint, another opponent of the ballot measure, failed to disclose what it spent on a Sept. 19 mass mailing that encouraged defeat of Question 14. But Sprint spokeswoman Detra Page said that mailing was a quarterly newsletter that company vice president and general manager Lou Emmert has sent to local business customers for the past five years and did not constitute campaign literature.

"It addresses what we're doing in the community," Page said. "It wasn't sent out because of Question 14."

The county ballot measure, which was advisory, asked voters whether they wanted a nonprofit agency to provide their electricity. The measure passed by a margin of 57 percent to 43 percent. Citizens Against 14, the group financed mostly by Nevada Power, did not form as a political action committee until the end of September. Campaign disclosure statements indicated that the group raised $1.64 million through Oct. 24, including $1.62 million from Nevada Power, and had spent $1.49 million. Much of that money was spent on television advertising.

But Peggy Maze Johnson, chairwoman of Yes on Q14, said Nevada Power and the other groups that formed Citizens Against 14 should have disclosed all campaign activity prior to creation of the political action committee.

"People have a right to know what is being spent on campaigns," Johnson said. "I'd like to see Nevada Power open up its books. The reason they have rejected the bid from the Southern Nevada Water Authority is that they don't want to open up their books. Somebody should ask for an audit."

The water authority, a public agency, has offered $3.2 billion for Nevada Power but that bid has been rejected by the Las Vegas utility's parent company, Sierra Pacific Resources.

State Consumer Advocate Timothy Hay, a critic of Nevada Power, said he believes Johnson's complaint should be investigated.

Although Nevada Power has maintained that no ratepayer money had been spent on the effort to defeat the ballot measure, Hay said the utility has previously sought recovery from ratepayers of costs incurred through litigation. Hay said the money the company spent in an effort to have Question 14 removed from the ballot should not be recovered from ratepayers.

"Clearly there should have been disclosure of the amounts expended on that and any other expenses incurred prior to the filing deadline," Hay said. "Sprint's mass mailing to orchestrate opposition to Question 14 also should have been disclosed."

"We're talking about a utility (Nevada Power) on the verge of bankruptcy whose credit is in junk status," said Johnson. "They spent all that money on the election. All of us as ratepayers have a right to know how much money they have."

She said she also planned today to file the complaint with the Clark County Clerk's office.