In extreme heat, Nevadans are forced to choose between health and paying record-high bills.
NEVADA — At yesterday’s Public Utilities Commission of Nevada (PUCN) Consumer Session, environmental, faith, community, and health leaders gathered to call on NV Energy and Southwest Gas to stop prioritizing corporate profits over Nevada’s families’ and communities’ health, safety, and well-being. Utility decisions drive up household energy costs, forcing families to choose between their health and paying their bills. Clark County has reported 342 people have died from heat-related deaths.
During the consumer session, Nevadan environmentalists, health experts, and families pointed out that record-high utility bills caused by volatile and polluting methane gas put them at financial risk and increased unhealthy air pollution.
While our organizations are grateful to the PUCN for rejecting NV Energy’s most recent proposed bill increase in Northern Nevada, which would have tripled the basic service charge, we urge the Commission to remain vigilant in reviewing future rate hikes and utility spending proposals. Nevadans have already faced soaring utility bills while these monopoly utilities spend hundreds of millions of dollars on polluting methane (natural) gas facilities, deepening our dependence on fossil fuels and exposing communities to volatile energy costs.
Looking ahead, the Commission must continue to push utilities toward greater transparency in their resource planning. Nevada’s energy future depends on utilities prioritizing cost reduction and energy efficiency for consumers. Nevada’s families’ health and financial security must come before corporate profits, and we implore the Commission to continue taking steps in the right direction.
Health professionals, clean energy groups, faith organizations, and over 40 people from CHISPA, who were bussed in to provide public comment, spoke about these issues.
“Families living in the desert face tough challenges during the summer because of rising utility rates and the extreme heat we experience here. Every summer, temperatures in Nevada can go above 100 degrees. Just this year, we hit record numbers early in the year again. We need air conditioning to stay safe, but it is expensive,” said Mary Wagner, Nevada Field Organizer for Moms Clean Air Force. “Families shouldn’t have to choose between staying cool or paying our bills when these companies are making big profits. Not being able to afford air conditioning can lead to serious health problems, especially for our most vulnerable communities, like children, the elderly, pregnant people, and lower-income communities. ”
“Energy insecurity combined with dangerous summer heat is a serious health risk. In my office, that might look like a child doing poorly in school because his home is too hot to study, an outdoor worker with permanent kidney damage because she couldn’t cool off at home and recover between shifts, a domestic violence victim whose home life is affected by the anger that accompanies heat exposure, or an elder with a heart attack due to barriers to accessing a cooling center,” said Joanne Leovy, Steering Chair for Nevada Clinicians for Climate Action. “In Nevada, if we meet our greenhouse gas reduction targets, we could save an estimated $1 billion in health costs annually in ten years. PUCN policy should acknowledge the health costs of fracked gas and should factor potential health savings into policy decisions. ”
“I have worked directly with hundreds of families who are struggling to choose between putting food on the table or paying for electricity, and today the PUCN heard from 36 of them,” said Juan Carlos Guardado, Community Organizer with Chispa Nevada. “NV Energy and Southwest Gas have asked for increase after increase, and the burden has been placed on our shoulders. Today, again, we are here to ask the PUCN to stop this destructive cycle. After the hottest year recorded in 2024, we cannot keep investing in fossil fuels. Families in Nevada want affordable and predictable bills, and clean and reliable energy. The bills we struggle to pay cannot be used to let the air we breathe and the environment we live in continue to be polluted. We say no more.”
“In the past few months, I’ve received electric bills that exceed $1,000, even though we make reasonable use of the services,” said Ana Gonzalez, a member of Chispa Nevada. “My children ask me if we can buy them shoes or clothes for school, and I have to tell them that we have to pay for basic utilities first. It is not fair that we have to choose between covering the basic needs of our children or paying for electricity and gas. I ask you to consider a solution that includes financial assistance for families who, like mine, can no longer bear this burden.”
“The effort to assume the increasing costs forces us to look for multiple jobs, exhausting ourselves physically and emotionally, and even then, we are unable to cover our basic needs,” said Giovanny Sanchez, a member of Chispa Nevada. “This situation also aggravates the already precarious economy of our households and erodes the social fabric, forcing families to live in constant stress and worry. It is our joint responsibility to seek solutions that benefit both families’ finances and the environment, and I am confident that your intervention can make a significant difference for our community.”
“We would like to express our gratitude to the commission for rejecting NV Energy’s latest proposed rate increase in Northern Nevada that would have tripled the basic service charge. The proposal would’ve unjustly burdened our state’s most vulnerable populations and undermined Nevada’s progress toward a clean and sustainable energy future,” said Kristee Watson, Executive Director of Nevada Conservation League. “But we are outraged to see NV Energy continue to increase our state’s reliance on methane gas, a volatile out-of-state fossil fuel that causes unanticipated bill spikes, creates dangerous levels of climate pollution, and negatively impacts our health. Nevadans deserve predictable energy bills. The PUC must hold NV Energy accountable, protect customers, and ensure that the state prioritizes the lowest cost, clean energy, and energy efficiency. We are depending on you to protect Nevadans and pave the way for a clean energy future.”
“Both NV Energy and Southwest Gas have a terrible history of frequently raising our rates and fighting against clean energy and energy efficiency programs that will lower our bills, said Pastor Marlon Anderson, Clean Energy Organizer for Faith Organizing Alliance. “Both utilities inappropriately spend our money on fancy sports promotions, expensive dinners, and big employee bonuses. Both utilities use our money to lobby for laws and costly projects that are not in our best interest but the interests of shareholders. I call for justice, fairness, and doing what’s right. My community deserves better. All Nevadans deserve better. We demand the stability and health benefits of clean energy.”
“I urge the Commission to hold NV Energy and Southwest Gas accountable for the high energy costs that disproportionately affect low- and fixed-income families,” said Dr. Mary House, CEO of CHR, In. “Over the past two years, households have yo-yoed from steep winter heating bills to extreme summer cooling bills made worse by both monopoly utilities’ penchant for excessive rate increases and gas expansion projects. Greater emphasis must be placed on energy conservation programs that prioritize lowering and stabilizing our bills.”
###
The Nevada Conservation League is the independent voice of Nevada’s conservation community. NCL works to maintain and enhance the natural character of Nevada and the quality of life for Nevadans through effective advocacy, the election of pro-conservation candidates, and building collaboration.
Originally published on : https://utilitywatchnv.org/at-pucn-consumer-session-families-and-community-groups-highlight-how-utility-monopolies-greed-drives-dire-health-impacts/