“The issue in this case is whether ratepayers or shareholders should bear the financial burden” for NV Energy bonuses, said the PUC staff. (Photo: Ronda Churchill/Nevada Current)
Policy, politics and progressive commentary
The Nevada Public Utilities Commission is scheduled Tuesday to reconsider its decision in December to stick ratepayers with a $5.75 million bill for bonuses NV Energy paid its Southern Nevada employees last year.
Commissioner Randy Brown, appointed by Gov. Joe Lombardo to the PUC in September last year, is standing firm on his order requiring that customers, rather than shareholders, pay for the bonuses, despite a request from the state’s Consumer Advocate that the PUC reconsider the order, and a rare motion for reconsideration from PUC staff.
Brown, Lombardo’s only new appointee to the PUC, amended a draft order in December from Commissioner Tammy Cordova that would have split the cost of the bonuses between ratepayers and the utility.
Cordova capitulated in December and joined Brown and Commissioner Hayley Williamson in a unanimous vote to have ratepayers foot the bill for the entire amount of the short-term incentive pay (STIP).