LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Many NV Energy customers are claiming they’re seeing high energy bills this summer and don’t understand the reason behind the rising costs.
Miguel Torres, a Summerlin resident, said he’s lived in Las Vegas for nearly 30 years, and July will be the highest energy bill he’s ever had to pay.
Currently, NV Energy projects his July bill to be $639. In April, his bill was $190. He lives with three other family members.
Torres rents his house and said he doesn’t have other energy options like those available homeowners.
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“It sucks,” said Torres. “But there really is no other option for people who are renting because I don’t have the option to go solar. When the power bill goes up like that, in the next three months, I will be paying NV Energy somewhere close to $2,000.”
NV Energy's vice president of customer operations, Antoine Tilmon, said the reason for the high costs is that the utility company is recovering pricey fuel costs spread out over 12 months.
“So what they're seeing are the costs that we incurred last year. It's a pass-through cost,” Tilmon said.
According to NV Energy, the price of natural gas increased by more than 70 percent and peaked in January 2023.
“NV Energy pays the producers power that costs what it takes us to produce power,” Torres said. “We then pass that to our customers, and that fuel cost that we incurred is being passed through the mechanism that we have today.”
Tilmon said thankfully, relief is on the way.
“Right now, our forecast, we're not seeing the same prices we saw in '22. So we're not seeing those same prices right now. So these prices are steadily coming down and that's what we're forecasting,” Tilmon said.
In May, NV Energy also requested the Public Utilities Commission to reduce energy bills. That was approved.
Customers can see a line item on their bill called “deferred energy adjustment,” which reduces their bill by 5 to 14 percent.
NV Energy said there are programs to help out people struggling to make payments. Customers can find out more at nvenergy.com/heretohelp.
