Here's some good news for those who've come to expect bad news: Beginning today NV Energy will slash its overall electric rates by 6.73 percent for Northern Nevada customers.
With the adjustment, electric rates will have dropped nearly 19 percent since January 2009, company officials say, bringing the rollback electric prices to 2005 levels.
The price decrease can be attributed to a number of factors, including the completion of the state-of-the-art Tracy Combined Cycle Generating Station, which is one-third more efficient in producing electricity than other conventional gas-fired power plants, company officials said.
Prices in the energy markets have also declined, meaning fuel to generate electricity costs less and these savings are passed on to customers in the form of lower electric rates.
Currently a typical electric customer is saving approximately $14 each month over January 2009 rates and today their rates were reduced by another $6 per month.
Effective today, a typical residential customer using 740 kilowatt hours of electricity per month, will see their bill decrease from $93.31 to $87.43. According to state law, costs for fuel and purchased power are passed along to customers dollar-for-dollar, with no profit for the company.
Natural gas supplied to Carson City is done through Southwest Gas. NV Energy also announced it was slashing natural gas rates by 8.39 percent for its Reno-Sparks customers.
NV Energy serves approximately 320,000 electric customers in Northern Nevada.