KVIG Informative

A new way of billing electricity customers cleared its latest legal hurdle this month. Nevada’s attorney general says it’s still against the law — and rooftop solar customers say they’re the ones who will pay for it.

NV Energy plans to roll out a daily demand charge in January 2027 that bases part of a customer’s bill on the highest 15-minute burst of electricity use each day, rather than total monthly usage. The utility says other charges, like the basic service fee, will decrease to offset the new line item, and that most residential customers should see little change or a slight decrease in their bills.

Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford’s Bureau of Consumer Protection disagrees. His office sued to block the charge, arguing state lawmakers never gave the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada authority to restructure rates this way, and that the charge functions as an illegal time-of-use billing scheme, according to court filings.

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A Clark County district court judge denied the attorney general’s petition in May, ruling the change could benefit most Nevadans and did not violate state regulations, according to the nonprofit Nevada Independent. Ford has vowed to appeal to the Nevada Supreme Court.

The dispute centers on rooftop solar customers. Under the old system, solar customers earned credits for excess power they sent back to the grid, credits that offset their bills. Those credits can’t be applied against the new demand charge — so if a solar customer’s single highest-use moment happens when their panels aren’t producing power, they’re charged in full for that peak even though their panels generate a surplus most of the day.

NV Energy says the restructuring corrects an inequity, arguing rooftop solar customers currently pay less toward the cost of maintaining the grid than non-solar customers, even though everyone relies on that infrastructure. Renewable energy advocacy groups Vote Solar and Earthjustice, along with the Nevada Conservation League, argue the change punishes customers investing in clean energy and undercuts the state’s renewable energy goals.

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Julia Hubbard, Nevada director for Solar United Neighbors, said in public comments that the charge doesn’t even target when the grid is actually most strained — typically 5 to 9 p.m. — undercutting NV Energy’s own stated rationale for the change.

The legal fight is headed to the Nevada Supreme Court, but the January 2027 rollout date isn’t waiting for a ruling. Barring an unlikely reversal, Southern Nevada customers will find out what their highest 15 minutes of the day cost them before the state’s highest court ever weighs in.