This Isn't Complicated, It's a Heist in Plain Sight

Let's get one thing straight. When a monopoly utility company like NV Energy starts talking about “fairness,” you should check your wallet. Their media relations manager, Meghin Delaney, actually said, “I understand any increase is an increase,” regarding the new bills solar customers are about to get slammed with. That’s the kind of profound insight you get from someone whose job is to put a happy face on a shakedown. It's like a mugger saying, "I understand taking your money is taking your money." Thanks for the clarification.

I’ve been watching this unfold, and the whole thing stinks. You’ve got regular people, your neighbors, who did what they were told was the "right thing." They invested thousands of dollars to put solar panels on their roofs in the middle of the goddamn Mojave Desert, a place with a bit of sunshine, you might have heard. They generate clean power, feed it back into the grid, and reduce the strain on the whole system, especially during those brutal summer afternoons when the grid is screaming for mercy.

And their reward? A kick in the teeth.

NV Energy’s new "demand charge" is a masterclass in corporate gaslighting. Here’s the gimmick: They’re going to find the 15-minute window each day where you use the most electricity—maybe when you get home from work and the AC kicks on while you preheat the oven—and they're going to punish you for it. This is like a gym charging you a penalty fare for the one time you actually used the heavy weights. It’s a system designed to find a moment of peak "inconvenience" and monetize it. And, surprise surprise, it just so happens to disproportionately hammer the very people who are generating their own power.

A solar user named Michael Cook nailed it: “This one-size-fits-all metric ignores total generation and exports, punishing net producers like me.” Offcourse it does. That's the entire point.

The Part Where It Gets Illegal

This whole mess goes from infuriating to potentially criminal when you look at what the state’s own lawyers are saying. This isn't just me ranting. The Nevada Attorney General’s Bureau of Consumer Protection (BCP) has looked at this new rate structure and basically said, "Hold on, this is illegal." No, 'illegal' doesn't cover it—this is a flagrant violation of state law.

They point to a Nevada statute that explicitly prohibits utilities from forcing residential customers onto a time-of-day rate plan unless the customer chooses it. The BCP then quotes the Public Utilities Commission's (PUC) own order, which admits the demand charge "'varies based on the time during which the electricity is used.'" You can almost hear the lawyers laughing. It's an open-and-shut case.

Then there's the second law they say NV Energy is breaking, which prevents utilities from charging solar customers different fees than non-solar customers. Again, that seems to be exactly what this demand charge does.

So how did the PUC, the supposed public watchdog, approve something that appears to be so clearly against the law? Their justification is a joke. They said the “uniqueness of the circumstances in Nevada warrants seeking rate design alternatives.” What uniqueness? The fact that it’s hot here? The fact that the sun shines? Give me a break. That’s not a legal argument; it’s the kind of vague nonsense you’d write on a high school essay you didn't study for.

I can just picture the scene at that consumer session, where Las Vegas Valley residents voice concerns about new NV Energy billing component. A stuffy, beige room, the low hum of the air conditioning barely covering the simmering rage from people who feel utterly betrayed. They’re not just numbers on a spreadsheet; they’re real people getting screwed over by a monopoly that’s been greenlit by the very commission meant to protect them.

A Pattern of Behavior

And let's not pretend this is happening in a vacuum. This is the same NV Energy that just admitted to overcharging more than 60,000 customers. The same NV Energy that had thousands of people in the dark just the other day because of a Power outage impacting thousands of NV Energy customers. The same NV Energy that just got told "no" by federal regulators when they tried to create a special "safe harbor" process to let energy projects jump out of their interconnection queue.

When Delaney says, “I totally understand the folks who feel like they can’t trust NV Energy right now,” my cynical translation is: “Yeah, we know our reputation is in the toilet, but what are you gonna do about it?” They’re a monopoly. They ain't going anywhere. They believe they can make a "mistake," issue a half-hearted apology, and then move on to the next scheme.

The BCP and a coalition of solar groups are demanding the PUC reconsider. A hearing is set for November 18. But don’t hold your breath. A retired BCP manager, David Chairez, basically said the PUC never reverses these things. They just rewrite the order to make it harder to challenge in court.

So this isn't the end. It's just the beginning of a long, ugly fight. A fight between a powerful corporation and a bunch of citizens who had the audacity to believe that in the sunniest state in the nation, harnessing the sun was a good idea. Then again, maybe I'm the crazy one for expecting anything different. They expect us to believe this is about modernizing the grid, and honestly…

They Think We're Idiots

Let’s stop pretending this is a complex issue about grid management or rate design. This is a simple power play. NV Energy sees rooftop solar as a threat to its business model, and this "demand charge" is the weapon they’ve chosen to cripple it. They are betting that they can use their immense influence to push through a legally dubious, punitive rate structure because, at the end of the day, who's going to stop them? This isn’t about fairness. It’s about a monopoly protecting its turf, and they’re willing to burn their customers, the law, and the state’s own clean energy goals to do it.