On June 23, the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada voted to issue an order that will lower bills for Southwest Gas customers statewide.
The decision adopts the terms of a settlement entered into by the staff, Southwest Gas, and the Nevada Bureau of Consumer Protection and will result in a reduction to the rates that Southwest Gas charges to recover the costs of purchasing natural gas for its customers.
Southwest Gas will change its deferred energy accounting adjustment rate from a positive 15 cents per therm to a negative 25 cents per therm in Northern Nevada.
The change was effective on July 1 and is anticipated to lower the average Southwest Gas customer’s monthly gas bill by more than $22 per month in Northern Nevada, based on an average of 57 therms usage per month.
“Nevada law allows the utility to earn a return on investments in infrastructure necessary to provide safe and reliable utility service to customers, but not on its purchases of natural gas that it sells to consumers,” regulators said.
The decrease was due to changing market conditions. During 2023, rates shot up 40.8 percent with increases of 17.8 percent for a single family dwelling on April 1 and 22.7 percent on July 1.
In 2022, the price NV Energy paid for natural gas increased by more than 70 percent, peaking in January 2023.