Submitted by B. Fulkerson
As a lifelong northern Nevada resident and an advocate for affordable and clean energy, I urge the PUC to reject NV Energy’s unjust and unfair rate hike.
Members of the PUC are required by law (NRS 704.001) to “balance the interests of customers and shareholders of public utilities by providing public utilities with the opportunity to earn a fair return on their investments while providing customers with just and reasonable rates.”
Keywords: “Just” and “reasonable.”
How is it “just and reasonable” to force residents on fixed incomes to pay the highest basic service rates in the country simply to have access to electricity, while NV Energy’s shareholders reap the benefits of this fleecing by seeing their rate of return increase from 9.5% to 10.4%?
How is it “just and reasonable” to penalize climate-saving rooftop and community solar projects with this rate increase and reduce incentives for conserving energy?
How is it “just and reasonable” for residential customers to pay the highest fixed charge in the nation for investor-owned utilities while highly profitable transnational conglomerates like Apple and Google will see their electricity rates reduced?
Just because NV Energy has made fleecing customers a form of art in Carson City does not mean the PUC also must co-sign on their greed.
This PUC has already allowed NV Energy to charge me and other ratepayers for the upkeep of its standing mercenary army of 16 lobbyists in the legislature. This PUC has already allowed NV Energy to charge us for lavish shareholder bonuses. And it has also given the green light to charge customers for lavish $5,000 dinners at Lake Tahoe where NV Energy execs purchase goodwill from other fat cats.
From opposing net metering from its inception in 1997, to gutting it and killing rooftop solar in 2016, to its scofflaw approach to implementing the community solar light bill passed in 2019, NV Energy has shown its fealty to shareholder profits above all else.
The PUC now has a chance to help create a different way forward and rein in NV Energy.
For those of us who want to give our grandkids and future generations a shot at a liveable planet by ensuring they have clean and affordable energy, we demand the PUC take its mandate seriously and reject NV Energy’s latest money grab.
B Fulkerson is a 40-year organizer in Nevada and is currently the Lead National Organizer for Third Act, which mobilizes Americans over the age of 60 to protect our climate and democracy.
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