Southwest Gas rates may be going up
By Kyle Roerink, Las Vegas Sun
On Nov. 17, the state Public Utilities Commission will hear testimony on whether Nevadans will see heftier bills from Southwest Gas. The commission will rule on a request made by the company in June to raise rates by an aggregate of $29.4 million, which it said was necessary to compensate for decreased demand stemming from warmer-than-expected weather.
As a regulated monopoly, the company could ask the PUC to raise rates to collect revenues it planned to earn but didn’t receive. This year’s request followed a $7.4 million rate hike the PUC approved three years ago after reviewing the company’s investments, operations costs and expected sales based on historical weather patterns.
If approved as requested, the new rates would amount to a 6.3 percent increase in Northern Nevada and a 5.6 percent increase in Southern Nevada. Southwest also provides gas to the California side of the Lake Tahoe Basin.