Starting next year, power bills in Southern Nevada will look a little different. That’s due to a new rate-charging scheme by NV Energy.
Traditionally, power bills are calculated based on the amount of electricity you use. The investor-owned company, instead, wants to institute what it's calling a new “demand charge," based on a 15-minute snapshot of a customer’s peak daily usage.
NV Energy is also revamping its net metering program for new rooftop solar customers in Northern Nevada. The company will now calculate credits for electricity returned to the grid every 15 minutes, rather than monthly, as it does now.
The changes are controversial, drawing criticism from customers and consumer protection advocates. Despite that, the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada approved both changes earlier this year. The commission is currently reconsidering those changes.
So, what does it mean for customers? According to Meghin Delaney, the Media Relations Manager for NV Energy, not much will change for the average customer.
"It's important [to know] that when we designed this, we lowered other portions of the bill so that overall, your bill stays the same or goes down slightly as the average NV energy customer," she said.
But why is the utility implementing the change? Delaney said it's because the company is losing money serving rooftop solar customers who can send electricity back to the grid.
"So many of those customers are generating credits and are not contributing what it actually takes to serve them," Delaney said. "So, those costs are not being paid for by those rooftop solar customers, and the way the system is set up is they're being paid for by the non-rooftop solar customers. Adding this demand charge is another way to ensure that rooftop solar customers pay for the energy they use and pay for what it takes to serve them."
Despite NV Energy’s insistence that transitioning to a demand charge structure will have little impact on the average NV Energy customer, opponents of the change question the company’s motives.
The Bureau of Consumer Protection in the Nevada Attorney General’s office recently called the new rate structure illegal. They point to Nevada Revised Statute, which prohibits electric utilities and the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada from changing or approving any rate schedules that charge customers based on the time of usage. They're asking the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada to reconsider its decision to approve the rate changes.
Julia Hubbard agrees with the BCP's at assessment. She is the Nevada Program Director for Solar United Neighbors, a national non-profit group that advocates for rooftop solar, and one of the groups opposing the rate change.
She said, if implemented, NV Energy would become the first utility in the country to assess demand charges for residential and small business customers. "It's not for small users, like residential customers. So, we do not think the daily demand charge should be implemented. We believe it's harmful, and we hope they will reconsider this.
One of Hubbard's chief complaints is that it makes it harder for people to limit their energy bills.
"Most people are not tracking their energy usage every 15 minutes," she said. "It's really easy to forget and have a number of appliances on all at once. Or there's folks who just cannot change their their patterns because they get home from work, they've got to do all of this stuff all at once. So this could really harm working families."
NV Energy's Delaney says the company plans to continue moving forward with implementation of the rate changes.
"We respect the process that the commission is going to go through, and we'll continue to participate in this case," said Delaney. "At this time, we are moving forward with our plans to implement the demand charge in April."
Guests: Meghin Delaney, media relations manager, NV Energy; Julia Hubbard, Nevada program director, Solar United Neighbors
