It's likely not surprising to you that power bills are at a 40 year high according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

In Nevada, the Public Utilities Commission (PUCN) accepts utility complaints from citizens who have concerns about their power bills.

National non-profit watchdog group, Energy and Policy Institute obtained documents from the PUCN, under Nevada's open records law, showing more than a hundred complaints from NV Energy customers.

Because Nevada utility companies are not required to report customer disconnection data, Energy and Policy Institute requested NV Energy customer complaints specifically containing the words "disconnection" and "shutoff."

'We had a customer who was disconnected and the paramedics had to come pick them up because they could no longer use their oxygen tank. And, there were several more examples in that list of over a hundred complaints just regarding disconnections and shutoffs where people were concerned about being able to access their oxygen," said Energy and Policy Institute Research Associate Keriann Conroy.

Conroy said that even though there are protections in place for seniors and people with disabilities in Nevada, the burden of proof is on them to contact the utility company.

It can be a timely and complicated process. The records show that customers had a lot of difficulty communicating with the customer service side of the utility company.

The records also show complaints ranging from inaccurate bill tracking to customers allegedly receiving higher bills after installing solar panels.

"Definitely concerns over being able to pay the bills. Really extreme costs for bills and sometimes that was because people were late, or back payments. Sometimes it was because they got an outrageously high monthly bill that they did not expect, and we've seen that pretty much across the board especially this summer with rising gas prices," said Conroy.

We received this response from NV Energy regarding the Energy Policy Institute's report:  

"NV Energy is committed to ensuring Nevadans have access to reliable, affordable and sustainable power. The company takes customer complaints very seriously and thoroughly investigates grievances - including the ones in this report - to resolve concerns and offer solutions.

NV Energy has taken steps to provide customers with lower energy costs this summer, including the request earlier this year to the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada (PUCN) to reduce energy costs for customers during the hot summer months. We anticipate costs to continue to go down. As long as market conditions continue to stabilize, we anticipate a decrease of approximately 35 to 40 percent in energy rates towards the second half of 2024.

NV Energy encourages any customers who are concerned about energy bills to reach out to the company. NV Energy offers a variety of products and services to help customers save energy and lower their bills. Learn more at Save Energy | NV Energy.