Judge puts legal challenge to NV Energy’s peak demand charge on April docket 

A hearing on a legal challenge to NV Energy’s peak demand charge will be held on April 28, according to an order issued Monday by Clark County Judge Mary Kay Holthus.

Holthus granted an ex parte motion – an emergency legal request made by one party, the Nevada Attorney General’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, without notice to the opposing parties, NV Energy and the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada – to schedule a hearing on the demand charge and whether it violates state law. 

Under Nevada law, a petition for judicial review, such as the one filed by the BCP, takes statutory precedence over other civil matters, the BCP argued in its motion. 

The demand charge was scheduled to take effect on April 1. NV Energy asked to delay implementation until October 1. The Nevada Public Utilities Commission voted last week to have it take effect Jan. 1.  

What Holthus does and when could figure into the Nevada race for governor, say some experts. 

Attorney General Aaron Ford, a Democrat who is hoping to challenge Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo in November, said last week that if elected, he will “halt” the demand charge. His campaign would not say how.  

Lombardo, who appointed the PUC members who approved the demand charge, responded in a news release, asserting the governor has no authority to override the PUC.