NV Energy overcharged customers $65.4 million over more than two decades

NV Energy estimates it overcharged customers at both ends of the state by a total of $65.4 million from 2002 through 2024, the company reported in response to an investigation by the Nevada Public Utilities Commission.

The utility initially acknowledged overcharging some 60,000 customers by roughly $17 million, the Current reported in May, but the utility later found through an audit it had overcharged another 20,000  “previously unidentified ‘multi-family accounts’ for an undisclosed amount.” 

NV Energy overcharges at least 80,000 customers, scrimps on refunds

It’s unknown how much of the money has been paid back. NV Energy first attempted to reimburse a portion of customers a total of $2.5 million, based on what PUC staff alleged was an inapplicable rule limiting reimbursement of overcharges to six months. 

A law passed by the Legislature this year in response to NV Energy’s failure to make customers whole requires that utilities pay back all overcharges with interest. Active customers will get a credit to their bills, while previous customers will receive a refund, according to the law. 

NV Energy has sought “incessant rate increases, tried to pass excessive and lavish expenses like limo services on to customers, as well as pass a controversial daily demand charge in Southern Nevada, and changes to net-metering in Northern Nevada,” Kristee Watson, executive director of Nevada Conservation League said in a news release. “As we’ve seen through this investigation, when the public speaks up, there’s accountability. But families shouldn’t have to fight to be treated fairly.”

The overcharging began in 2002 when the company began to charge different electricity rates to single-family residential customers than those in multi-family units. The overcharges were primarily assessed to ratepayers in multi-family developments who were misclassified and charged the higher, single-family rate.  

The commission, as part of its investigation, ordered the utility to estimate the total dollar amount of overcharges to customers, including tax and other charges, between 2001 and 2025.  

From 2002 through 2017, NV Energy overcharged customers in Southern Nevada by $27.4 million, and overcharged ratepayers in Northern Nevada by $17.7 million, the utility said Wednesday in its response to the PUC. 

The estimates were determined by using the average amount of electricity from the date the units were misclassified, without any deduction for disconnections or vacancies, NV Energy wrote in a response filed Wednesday. 

“As a result, the estimate likely overstates the actual amount of overcharges that occurred,” the company wrote Wednesday. 

Note: This story was updated with comment from Kristee Watson of Nevada Conservation League.