PUC says decision on NV Energy customer refunds could be nearing

LAS VEGAS (KSNV) — A long-running investigation into NV Energy’s billing practices may be approaching a critical turning point, as state regulators say they now have enough information to determine how customers who were overcharged should be reimbursed.

In filings submitted this week, regulatory staff with the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada said the commission has gathered sufficient evidence to decide how NV Energy should repay affected customers.

The investigation found that for more than two decades, more than 100,000 NV Energy customers were misclassified as living in multifamily residences when they were actually in single-family homes. That error led to more than $65 million in overcharges dating back to at least 2002 through this year.

Regulatory staff said NV Energy should be required to issue full refunds and already has the customer data necessary to do so.

Gariety Pruitt, an NV Energy customer impacted by the misclassification, said she began questioning her bills when the investigation became public earlier this year.

“When the news first broke this spring, I wondered because I live in a townhouse,” Pruitt said.

Pruitt said she expected the issue to be widespread, but was surprised by the scale of the problem.

“I knew that there were going to be more people, but the sheer volume or the extent of the problem — it’s like every single person that lives in a multifamily unit, right?” she said.

Pruitt said she moved into her home in 2020 and was overcharged the entire time. Despite that, she said NV Energy only refunded her for one year.

“I got a letter in June that was from Nevada Energy saying that they had recently discovered that I had been miscoded as residential single-family, and that they were going to credit 12 months of my bill,” Pruitt said.

She said communication from the company has been limited since then.

“I believe that the company needs to be much more transparent with all of us that have been overcharged,” Pruitt said. “I received one letter in June. I have not received any more information.”

Regulatory staff also recommended that any refunds issued to customers include interest. Pruitt said that is something she expects.

“I don’t know when that will happen. I very much will be checking my bills to make sure that when I see credits that I can acknowledge them,” she said. “But no, I expect to be paid in full with interest.”

In updated comments filed with the commission, Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford’s Bureau of Consumer Protection echoed those concerns, writing that “it is even more clear that this investigation is far from over. NV Energy should be required to account for every cent it has overcharged ratepayers from 2001 to 2025.”

News 3 reached out to NV Energy for comment on the latest PUC filings, but had not received a response as of publication.

The Public Utilities Commission is scheduled to hold another public workshop on Jan. 21 AT 10 a.m. at the PUCN offices to present the findings. The meeting will include a public comment period.