PUC invites public to discuss concerns

Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2002 | 9:16 a.m.

Consumers will get the opportunity to sound off on utility issues at two public sessions scheduled for Dec. 5 in Las Vegas.

The sessions sponsored by the state Public Utilities Commission will be held from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Las Vegas Senior Center, 451 E. Bonanza Road, and 6 p.m. at Winchester Community Center, 3130 S. McLeod Drive.

The three-member PUC regulates investor-owned electric and gas utilities, as well as telecommunications and railroad operations and most water systems.

This is the second year in a row that the PUC is conducting consumer sessions of this nature.

"It will be an opportunity for people to come before the commission, but I'm not going to speculate on what the issues will be," PUC spokeswoman Cynthia Messina said. "A written transcript will be taken. The commissioners will read the transcript and use the information as they see fit."

At a consumer session in Reno on Nov. 19, Northern Nevada residents expressed concerns about their telephone bills and discussed electric billing and metering issues, Messina said.

No utility has been under more scrutiny locally than Nevada Power Co., the Las Vegas electric utility that continues to struggle financially. The Southern Nevada Water Authority has made a $3.2 billion offer to acquire Nevada Power, arguing that it could slash rates by at least 20 percent immediately.

Nevada Power parent Sierra Pacific Resources has rejected the bid. Sierra Pacific has said that it does not believe the Water Authority's financing plan is sound.