Hundreds of Vegas homes are subject to new electric surcharge

Kevin Rademacher

Friday, April 30, 2004 | 11 a.m.

Anne Keaton is not happy.

The retired Las Vegas resident lives in a 2,200-square-foot home near Valley View Boulevard and Washington Avenue and was surprised to find out that as of April 1 she is considered a "large residential power customer."

With that distinction, Keaton's power bill is now subject to a $50 a month basic charge. The basic charge is the amount all customers pay regardless of usage. The average small residential customer pays a basic charge of just $6 per month.

"There's just no way I can afford that," she said, adding that she uses no more power than it takes to run the necessary appliances, even electing to dry her clothes outside rather than turn on an electric dryer.

"I don't use a lot of electricity," the 70-year-old Keaton said. "At least I don't think so."

Nevada Power Co. agreed.

"Her consumption is somewhat average," said Sonya Headen, a Nevada Power spokeswoman. "But it's the equipment."

The large-customer designation -- which was approved in March by the state Public Utilities Commission as part of a general rate case -- is based on the presence of a "three-phase" electric meter at the home.

There are about 400 such homes in the Las Vegas Valley, Nevada Power said. The meters allow large homes to use greater amounts of power as well as support home expansions. Headen said the meters also cost the utility more to maintain.

"(The rate) was really designed for those customers using the equipment, to true-up the costs and not pass them along to all customers," Headen said.

Nevada Power's records show that Keaton's home, which was built in 1956, was wired for three-phase power. Headen added that in that year a 2,200-square-foot home would have been considered large, and on a half-acre lot it would have had the potential for additions.

The PUC has received just one complaint about the new charge for homes with three-phase power.

Rick Hackman, PUC customer complaint manager, said the complaint was from Keaton but said more complaints may be received as people receive their bills.

"Bear in mind this has been in place less than a month and bills are only just now coming out," he said.

Keaton and her husband bought the home in 1983. She never knew about the unusual meter until the power bill arrived this week.

"I was told by Nevada Power that it was for the potential to use more power," Keaton said.

The only immediate option for Keaton, Headen said, would be to have the meter replaced at a cost to the customer estimated at "a couple thousand dollars." Nevada Power also will set up payment plans for customers having trouble covering their bills.

"I certainly understand this customer's dilemma," Headen said.

That was little comfort to Keaton.

"It's one thing to raise rates," she said. "The issue here is going back into history and finding a loophole to charge customers more ... This is the straw that broke the camel's back for me."

Nevada Consumer Advocate Tim Hay also disputed the charge.

"That's incredible," he said of the large-customer designation being placed on a customer such as Keaton.

Hay did not dispute the assessment for customers building palatial homes using inordinate amounts of power. He said, however, that older homes subject to dated building standards should not fall into the classification if they are not using above-average amounts of power.

"If that's the way (Nevada Power is) interpreting what the commission did, I would think they are misinformed," Hay said. "I think it will be corrected one way or another, because I do not think this is the commission's intent."