Nevadans urge utilities commission to reject $70m rate hike requested by Southwest Gas

Everyone can understand that sometimes you have to “tighten up your belt” to get through tough financial times, says Juan Lizarraga, but for far too many Nevadans the belt can’t tighten much further.

And having their gas bills rise 10% next year certainly won’t help.

Lizarraga and more than a dozen others, many of them volunteers of the environmental advocacy group Chispa Nevada, attended a consumer session Thursday at the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada, which is considering approving a nearly $70 million general rate increase proposed by the natural gas monopoly.

Southwest Gas in September filed a request for the rate increase, citing a need to recover an annual revenue deficiency of approximately $61 million in Southern Nevada and $8.8 million in Northern Nevada.

Southwest Gas says the rate increase would fund infrastructure replacement and the Mesquite Expansion Project, and the regulated utility wants to be allowed a 7.27% rate of return on those investments.

Andrew Hall, assistant general counsel for Southwest Gas, at the consumer session Thursday said the proposed increase in rates for changes in the cost of service for the average residential customer in Southern Nevada would be approximately 10%. For Northern Nevada customers, it would be approximately 4.28%.

In Southern Nevada, the average residential customer would see their bill increase by $8.14 per month, while bills for customers in apartments and condos would increase by $4.50 per month. In Northern Nevada, bills would increase by $5.80 a month for average residential customers and $2.53 a month for customers within multi-family dwellings.

Many of those who attended the consumer session said their Southwest Gas bills are already twice or triple what they were two years ago.

“It’s not a secret that everyone suffers,” said Lizarraga, referencing the covid recession, record high inflation and wages that haven’t kept up. People, especially those on fixed incomes, are making sacrifices they shouldn’t have to in order to absorb the cost of living. 

“But we could also make a different reality,” he said, “starting by … not letting outrageous increases year after year on a consistent basis.”

Rosario Moreno described her financial situation as a constantly fluctuating rollercoaster. She said her husband was ill when the electric bill was high, so they had to forgo his medication.

Other Chispa volunteers echoed her sentiment, saying they knew of Nevadans who skip doctors appointments and don’t fill prescribed medicine because their priority is working enough to pay for necessities like rent and utilities.

Moreno pleaded for additional investment in programs to help low-income senior citizens on fixed incomes.

“Gas should not be a luxury, because it is a basic necessity,” said Karla Enriquez. “Families of Las Vegas should not have to struggle to make ends meet when looking at their light and gas bills — weighing the odds of paying their gas bill or buying groceries. These are all real concerns that my friends, family and community members are currently facing.”

Southwest Gas’s requested rate hike would be the utility’s fourth increase in five years, said Jermareon Williams of Western Resource Advocates, which is “well above the standard for the industry.”

“It will undeniably shift the cost burden to its consumers,” he continued. “While Southwest Gas is experiencing record high stock prices and a 40% increase in profits, their customers are struggling to pay record high bills.”

The PUCN has a hearing on the proposal scheduled for Feb. 26, 2024.