Southern Nevadans raise concerns about NV Energy's gas expansion plans, Southwest Gas's rate hike, and a pattern of utility misconduct that has largely gone unpunished
LAS VEGAS, Nev. — Nevadans concerned with increasingly high utility bills turned out in large numbers for the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada’s (PUCN) General Consumer Session in Las Vegas today, despite extreme heat and restricted access to the meeting room. Participants urged regulators to protect customers from rising utility costs and hold monopoly utilities accountable for decisions that increase household energy bills.
Before the session began, the Commission limited public access to the meeting room, citing fire safety concerns — an unannounced decision that forced attendees to wait outside in temperatures exceeding 108 degrees for nearly two hours, with limited access to water and restrooms.
While the controversial daily demand charge anchored most comments, residents also raised concerns about NV Energy’s proposal to spend billions on new gas-burning power plants, surging data center demand, decades of customer overcharges, and Southwest Gas’s request for a significant rate increase on top of a costly pipeline expansion the Commission recently approved. Throughout the session, speakers emphasized that utility decisions will affect Nevada families and businesses for decades.
NV Energy filed its 2026 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) a full year ahead of schedule and includes significant investments in solar and geothermal energy, and battery energy storage, which are critical for Nevada’s clean energy future, grid reliability, and long-term affordability. However, the utility is also proposing 1,200 megawatts of new methane gas-burning power through three peaker plants expected to cost billions of dollars. The plan is largely driven by projected data center growth, as NV Energy projects that they could account for 64% of total electricity sales statewide by 2046. Community members urged regulators to carefully evaluate whether the proposed gas plants are necessary and to ensure existing customers are not left paying for systems built primarily to serve large new energy users, or are more exposed to the financial risk tied to volatile fossil fuel prices.
The sessions also gave Nevadans the opportunity to respond to a longer record of NV Energy misconduct. PUCN staff and customer advocates uncovered decades of overcharges, attempts to recover inappropriate costs from customers, repeated rate hike requests, and failures to deliver on key utility commitments — none of them isolated incidents. NV Energy was found to have overcharged more than 100,000 customers and must repay over $63 million, yet faced no fines, and not all repayments will include interest. This happened as Berkshire Hathaway, NV Energy’s parent company, paid its CEO more than $22 million last year.
Southern Nevadans also raised concerns about Southwest Gas’s pending general rate case. The monopoly utility is seeking a revenue increase of more than $70 million, which, if approved, could raise the average southern Nevada household’s monthly bill by $7 while the company seeks to increase shareholder profits to a 10% return on equity. All of this comes after the Commission approved Southwest Gas’s plan to spend hundreds of millions of dollars more on new pipeline projects and reportedly paid its outgoing CEO over $10 million in 2025, 68 times the pay of a median employee.
“NCL has been in this fight for a long time, and what was said during the public consumer sessions in Reno and Las Vegas this month represents something important: Nevadans across the state are paying attention and they understand what is at stake,” said Kristee Watson, executive director, Nevada Conservation League. “Customers deserve confidence that every dollar collected from them is necessary and justified. When utilities are earning guaranteed profits, and executives are receiving multimillion-dollar compensation packages, regulators have an obligation to ask hard questions before approving new costs that could stay on customer bills for decades.”
Throughout the session, residents called on regulators to prioritize affordable energy solutions, expand programs that help customers lower bills, ensure large new energy users pay the full cost of the infrastructure they require, hold both utilities accountable, and carefully scrutinize any proposal that increases customer costs.
To see NCL’s full stance, read the organization’s letter to the PUCN here. Link to photos and b-roll here. Community members who want to stay engaged may sign up at nevadaconservationleague.org.
###
The Nevada Conservation League is the independent voice of Nevada’s conservation community. NCL works to maintain and enhance the natural character of Nevada and the quality of life for Nevadans through effective advocacy, the election of pro-conservation candidates, and building collaboration.