An exterior view of the Southwest Gas corporate offices on South Durango Drive near Windmill Lane Thursday, March 7, 2024.
Tuesday, March 12, 2024 | 2 a.m.
Angeles Reyes loves her job as a supervisor at a local car wash because she can talk to customers and coworkers to hear about what issues the community is facing.
Recently, what she’s found is that it’s been increasingly difficult for people to pay their utility bills, said Reyes, a member lead with the advocacy organization Make the Road Nevada.
“It is a very harsh issue because it puts us in a situation where you have to think, ‘Do I pay my bills or do I get food from the market?’ ” Reyes, a Spanish speaker, said through a translator. “And this has been something that has been increasingly a problem in our lives.”
Reyes, who has lived in Southern Nevada for 20 years, says she knows people who can only pay for their electric or gas bills in portions, because the full monthly payment is too expensive.
The increase in gas bills is real: Southwest Gas said the average monthly bill for a single family in Southern Nevada for 2023 was $60; this year, that average skyrocketed to $101 — an increase of nearly 70%.
“This has personally affected her as well as the community that she lives in,” said Jose Rivera Machuca, communications associate with Make The Road Nevada, who translated for Reyes.
Members of the organization were out in force last month to protest utility rate spikes, including a filing by Southwest Gas to raise Nevada customers’ annual rates. Southwest would ultimately increase company revenue by nearly $70 million to cover utility operations, according to the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada filing.
The general rate case application is being deliberated by the commission and, if approved, would likely go into effect by April. It would raise single-family residential rates in Southern Nevada by about 10% and in Northern Nevada by just under 5% — increasing monthly payments on average for those residents by $8.14 and $5.80, respectively.
“What we do is we file the general rate case to align the rates,” said Chris Brown, director of regulation for Southwest Gas. “The base rates are one component of this delivery charge, to reflect our cost of services to provide safe and reliable service to customers.”
This is separate from the utility’s quarterly gas cost filing, which was announced March 1 and proposed a rate change that — contrary to the general rate case application — would provide relief for customers who may be exhausted by high utility bills.
The quarterly gas cost rate change marks the third consecutive rate decrease for Southwest, according to its website, and should lead to average monthly savings of $18.27 and $9.54 for Northern Nevadans and Southern Nevadans, respectively.
“One thing to note is that Southwest Gas has actually already paid for this gas,” Brown said. “We’ve already provided it to customers. And so, these adjustments are done after the fact. … The company does not profit on gas in any way whatsoever. It is a pass-through cost.”
The result of both filings is that, within weeks, Southwest Gas customers in Nevada were told their bills would increase because of the general rate case application, but then to expect a rate decrease because of the company’s quarterly rate filings.
“They’re mutually exclusive filings,” Brown said. “A rate case … those are not as frequent — every few years or so at most — and again, that’s just to align our rates with the current cost to provide service. But the gas cost rates are routinely updated, as I mentioned, on a quarterly basis. And so, as we’re buying gas for customers, then those rates are updated to reflect what we’re actually spending.”
As natural gas costs trend downward, the company ultimately expects a net decrease in costs for consumers, said Sean Corbett, corporate communications manager for Southwest Gas.
The company is working to communicate with customers in the meantime, he said, so they know not just when to expect a rate increase or decrease, but also what goes into those decisions.
There are a variety of programs, including deferred-payment options, available to Southwest Gas consumers, as well as tips on the company’s website with recommendations for how to decrease usage and ultimately save on their bill, he added.
“We acknowledge that is a difficult concept to convey, and we’re working harder to make it clear and try to get that point across,” he said, noting that there’s “zero incentive” for the company to have high gas rates. “ … We’re confident with the decreases in gas costs, that our customers will continue to see relief, and that relief will be ongoing.”
Listening to the testimony of her neighbors and her fellow Make the Road Nevada members, who may be unable to pay their utility bills, motivates Reyes to continue shedding light on families affected by utility rate hikes, and to return to the table and ensure that the PUCN and utility companies hear their voices, she said.
“She is in this movement to try to put an end to the amount of spikes when it comes to utility rates,” Rivera said, translating for Reyes. “What she fears is getting to a point where she can’t afford to live in a home.”
