Public Utilities Commission to hold consumer session today

The Public Utilities Commission of Nevada has scheduled a consumer session for 5:30 p.m. today.

The meeting, which will be held inside commission headquarters at 9075 W. Diablo Drive, Suite 250, will let ratepayers speak out about the company’s plan to recoup expenses and lost revenue related to energy-efficiency measures. The proposal could mean a potential rate increase of just less than 5 percent for the utility’s Southern Nevada customers.

The filing comes from a 2009 state law that requires NV Energy to account separately for the conservation and energy-efficiency costs the company incurs in complying with Nevada’s renewable portfolio standard. The standard mandates that NV Energy get 25 percent of its power from renewable sources by 2025; conservation measures are part of the portfolio standard.

Before 2009, NV Energy recovered energy-efficiency costs as part of its larger general rate cases, which it files every three years.

If the commission approves the rate gain, it would take effect April 1. The commission will also consider in March an NV Energy filing related to adjustments in the price the utility pays for the power it buys from outside generators. That means changes in natural-gas prices could affect the energy-efficiency rate increase the company requested.