LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — A Las Vegas woman is frustrated with her rising electric bills. She says she isn't using any more power than usual but is still seeing a huge spike.
She called Channel 13, and I went to NV Energy to look for answers.
"It was like $500," said Patricia Fish. "So I tried to call the power company, and I couldn't get through."
She says she received an unusually high electric bill back in August. Then it climbed above $600 back in September.
Now, her latest bill is nearly $1,000.
"How the heck did my bill get this high? What did I do differently?" Fish asked.
As an in-home caretaker, she says her biggest fear is NV Energy will shut off her power if she can't keep up with her payments.
"When I see a power bill like that, it just kind of scares me, because how am I supposed to help take care of them and pay the power?" she said.
Looking out for Fish and others who may need help, I met with Antoine Tilmon, the vice president of customer operations at NV Energy.
"I'm sure you get a lot of calls, because people open up their power bills and sometimes they get sticker shock," I said. "How do you mitigate those calls from being escalated, let's say, to a local television station like Channel 13?"
"Well, what we do is our employees are very well trained, and they're trained with empathy, understanding, and they also understand their bills so they can talk to a customer," Tilmon said.
Tilmon gave me a personal tour of NV Energy's Southern Nevada call center, where more than 150 representatives are answering calls and emails.
He says each employee is specially trained to understand the customer's perspective and provide possible solutions or programs to help.
"I start the day off in every call with just basically saying to myself, 'This customer is not angry at me. They're angry at their issue,' and try and get down to the bottom of it," said representative LaTierra Smith.
She says working on the front lines of customer service means knowing a little about everything. If they can't figure out what's causing a high energy bill, then you can request to have NV Energy visit your home.
"That's our Energy Conservation Program through our Power Shift Department. We come through, we look at the different equipment, make sure that things are running correctly," Smith said.
That includes checking a customer's appliances and even supplying a free smart thermostat to help the home run more efficiently.
Smith says there's also help for customers with special medical needs.
"Definitely, a lot of people that have medical equipment in the home also need financial assistance. So with that, we have our Green Cross program," Smith said.
Fish says she's applying for assistance after we put her in touch with NV Energy.
"She referred me to a service they have for low-income families," she said. "And I have to fill out paperwork that she's sending me, and then we're working it out."
She says accumulating late fees is the main cause of her high electric bills, but NV Energy is eliminating some of the penalties, and she couldn't be happier.
"Because you guys contacted them right away and got the problem solved," Fish said.
If you have questions about your electric bill, you can call NV Energy's customer care center 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Just call 702-402-5555. And if you're still not getting the help you need, don't be afraid to contact Channel 13 at 702-876-1313.
