NV Energy says some customers can expect prices to go up beginning October 1st. For electric they'll see about a 6.39% increase and for gas an 8.22% increase.
The company says the increase is all due to natural gas increasing in price.
Jesse Murray, the Vice President of Electric Delivery for NV Energy adds that the price of natural gas has gone up about 20 percent in the last year. Electric users might be wondering how this impacts them…it's because NV Energy uses natural gas to produce electricity, so whether you're using gas or electric you'll see the increase.
Murray adds "The price of natural gas goes up and we have to spend more to generate electricity or to deliver natural gas to our natural gas customers, that gets reflected dollar for dollar in our customer’s bill."
We also spoke with residents who are customers with NV Energy. Cindy Wheeler, a Reno resident tells us how she feels about her energy bill increasing "I just feel like everything's going up right now... so I mean we just have to deal with it."
Customers express how the heat hasn't been doing their energy bill any favors, but they try and take as many precautions as they can to save money. Wheeler tells us "We use our air, hopefully it will be a little cooler so we won’t have to, so we can turn it off."
She adds "We have central air so it gets a little more expensive than a swamp cooler."
Deborah Easter, a Spanish Springs resident says "We have a thermostat that we set in the nighttime and the day time for heat and air conditioning so no we're not extreme."
Customers also explain how they've been cutting back on a variety of things they used to do to keep more money in their pockets. Wheeler says she’s cutting back on "Going out to eat or buying less groceries, things that you really need and not things that you want."
Easter also shares what she does to cut back on spending "Make a list of what I need at the store, look and see what's on sale, go purchase what's on sale and go to the bargain stores you know? That's what I do first before I do my main shopping."
NV Energy also uses renewable sources of energy to generate electricity such as solar, geothermal, and wind. They say over the coming years these renewable projects will help lessen the impact of natural gas prices.
