Lessons for Nev. from prior attempt to deregulate energy market
By Riley Snyder, Nevada Independent
When Nevada voters head to the polls in 2018, they’ll be given the opportunity to fundamentally reshape the state’s energy market and end NV Energy’s monopoly control of electric service.
But what voters may not know is that Nevada came close to doing the same thing almost 20 years ago.
The state flirted with, but never consummated, a transition away from a standard regulated monopoly structure to a competitive, retail electric market in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s. Despite thousands of man-hours and countless hearings in front of the Legislature and Public Utilities Commission, state leaders ultimately backed away from the effort after watching California’s energy market implode and lead to mass rolling blackouts across the state.
