Nevada power rates surpass many other Western states

Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2003 | 11:24 a.m.

Electric rates in Nevada have soared past those of several other Western states but still trail rates in California, data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration shows.

In May, Nevada consumers were paying 9.5 cents per kilowatt hour, an EIA report showed. That would mean an average summer bill of $119. The U.S. average was 8.4 cents per kilowatt hour.

The next closest mountain-region state in terms of cost was New Mexico at 8.5 cents per kilowatt hour. Arizona and Colorado consumers paid 7.9 and 7.8 cents, respectively. Utah electric customers paid just 6.7 cents.

Nevadans are still paying lower rates than Californians. Customers there pay 12 cents per kilowatt hour. Electric customers in New York pay 14 cents, and the highest electric rates in the country are in Hawaii at 17 cents per kilowatt hour.

In 1999, prior to the onset of the Western energy crisis, Nevada customers were paying 7.1 cents per kilowatt hour, the EIA said. At that time, the U.S. average price per kilowatt hour was 8.2 cents, and California customers were paying 10.7 cents.