While Nevadans are working hard to make ends meet — whether it’s paying for groceries, medicine, or skyrocketing energy bills — their electric and gas utilities have a history of making things worse instead of better. NV Energy and Southwest Gas continue to raise rates, block policies that would benefit customers, and fail to deliver on their promises. Time and again, they’ve been caught trying to pass inappropriate costs onto customers, all while using their political clout to block stronger oversight and consumer protections. Rather than serving the public interest, these monopoly utilities have too often prioritized shareholder profits over affordability, fairness, and the well-being of Nevada families.
This session, legislators took an important step forward with the passage of AB452, the fuel cost-sharing and utility accountability bill. The Public Utilities Commission of Nevada (PUCN) will evaluate a policy requiring NV Energy to share the risks of volatile fossil fuel prices with customers. The law also ensures customers are fully refunded, with interest, when they are overcharged. That provision was inspired by a case highlighted in the media, where a retired woman on a fixed income had been overbilled for six years, yet NV Energy refunded her for only six months.
At the time, no one realized the breadth of the overcharging problem. In the final month of the session, it came to light that NV Energy had overbilled more than 80,000 customers by at least $17 million, disconnected families who had been overcharged, and failed to report or fix the issue. The scandal broke, prompting an ongoing PUCN investigation, and at the same time, CEO Doug Cannon resigned. With new leadership, NV Energy now has an opportunity and obligation to restore public trust, end harmful practices, and commit to transparency and fairness.
Unfortunately, other commonsense bills fell victim to utility lobbying and political maneuvering. A bill that would have created ratepayer protections — preventing utilities from charging customers for political activities, luxury perks, and brand advertising — was stalled and never introduced despite overwhelming public support. Meanwhile, in the final hours of the session, SB417, a Southwest Gas-backed bill, was rushed into law. It gives gas utilities a formula rate system, making it easier for the monopoly utility to raise customer bills with fewer regulatory safeguards. Formula rates weaken consumer protections and encourage utilities to overspend on their systems.
Nevada’s future isn’t in costly imported fossil fuels, but in clean, homegrown resources. With energy demand rising from new large loads like data centers, we need utilities focused on affordability, innovation, and real solutions that put customers and communities first. This session showed both the progress we can make and the barriers still ahead. The path forward is clear: accountability, transparency, and investment in clean, affordable energy that strengthens Nevada’s economy and protects families.