NV Energy’s Latest Scheme

A Hot Day, A Hotter Bill, More Nonsense

Well, folks, it appears the barons of NV Energy have cooked up yet another reason to lighten your pockets, blaming none other than the weather itself. Yes, dear reader, because the good people of Nevada had to endure a few sweltering days last year, NV Energy now demands a nine percent rate increase as their rightful tribute.

“We had two weeks of 110, 115 days,” proclaims Meghin Delaney, the company’s ever-affable mouthpiece, as if Nevada’s summer heat were some new and unexpected phenomenon.

One might think a company in the business of providing power in the desert would have anticipated that the desert gets, well, hot. But alas, such foresight requires an additional tax on the people sweltering beneath NV Energy’s golden empire.

But fret not, says Delaney, for NV Energy, in its boundless generosity, has a solution for the suffering masses! If you meet their particular income level, they might waive the basic service charge, granting you the princely sum of $20 in savings.

But do not celebrate too quickly, for that charity comes with a sinister new creation: the “demand charge.”

“The demand charge will help us recover the cost for those spikes in energy,” Delaney explains, encouraging customers to keep their usage level throughout the day.

In plain English–if you dare to wash your clothes and dishes in the same evening, expect to pay dearly for the privilege.

And if you’re one of those enterprising souls who invested in solar panels, believing they might free you from NV Energy’s clutches, think again! The company now seeks to change how solar users are credited, shifting from a monthly tally to a system that tracks usage in 15-minute increments—because nothing says fair like nickel-and-diming customers.

The Public Utilities Commission of Nevada will hold court over this proposal in September, though one suspects their robes come sewn with silver thread. Should the tribute be approved, expect the new charges to hit in October, just in time for the crisp autumn air to remind you that no season is safe from corporate greed.