Thousands of families to benefit from NV Energy’s multimillion-dollar refund plan
Thousands of customers were overcharged by NV Energy. Here’s what you need to know about the company’s $32.6 million refund plan.
On Thursday, Sept. 18, NV Energy declared that it was set to issue over $32.6 million in refunds to tens of thousands of Nevada customers who were overcharged following a utility classification error. The company filed a proposal with the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada (PUCN) to begin issuing refunds to approximately 42,856 residential customers.
Additional overcharges were identified after the PUCN voted in May to open an investigation into NV Energy following the realization that the company had already overcharged 60,000 customers between April 1, 2017 and April 1, 2024. Those people, who were described as “misclassified residential customers,” paid a collective $17 million over what they should have been charged by NV Energy.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal notes that misclassifications like this typically occur when the utility inaccurately classifies and bills multifamily residents under a single-family rate. Prior to Thursday’s announcement, NV Energy had previously issued about $5.4 million in refunds to impacted families. Credits are set to be issued to customers with active accounts, and checks are to be mailed out to former customers.
Families receiving a refund from NV Energy will be contacted directly
A press release regarding NV Energy’s $32.6 million refund plan stated that impacted customers will receive, or have already received, a letter indicating that there was a rate scheduling error for their account. Those customers can anticipate getting either a credit or refund, depending on the status of their account.
Speaking about the issue and the subsequent refunds, president and CEO of NV Energy, Brandon Barkhuff, said in a statement, “We regret the impact this error has caused our customers.” Barkhuff added, “It’s important that we learn from this mistake and seek continuous improvement. We are committed to ensuring our systems and processes reflect accuracy and accountability moving forward and are implementing better procedures and controls to prevent this from happening again.”
In addition to refunding impacted families, NV Energy is hiring a third party to independently assess and review the company’s processes to ensure something like this doesn’t happen again.
If you’re unsure as to whether you’ve been overcharged and have not yet received a letter from NV Energy, contact them directly to speak with a representative. For assistance, English speaking customers can call (702) 402-5555, and Spanish speaking customers can call (702) 402-5554.
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