“Every time I open my electricity bill, I wonder what I’m going to have to give up that month to afford it,” said Leslie Vega, a PLAN member who purchases energy from NV Energy, a local energy company owned by the privately-held Berkshire Hathaway investment fund. “Families are falling behind, living with constant anxiety and fear of shutoffs, while utility companies keep raising rates and making billions. People should not have to suffer so corporations and executives can profit.”
Photo by Hannah Benet | Survival Media Agency
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Vega was one of the utility customers, faith leaders and community organizations from across the country who disrupted the Edison Electric Institute’s annual summit in Las Vegas on June 3.
Along with other members of the United Ratepayers campaign, which includes groups in 14 states organizing for affordable energy and clean, renewable power, Vega peacefully disrupted a speech at the annual gathering of energy-industry executives by Brandon Barkhuff, the chief executive of NV Energy, with chants of “Cancel, Cancel the Daily Demand!”
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This draws attention to the growing practice by NV Energy and other utilities of pre-charging customers with the highest recorded rate, similar to the “surge pricing” used by Uber and other businesses to charge customers the highest possible rate based on peak usage.
“Electricity is a necessity that every family depends on to stay safe and healthy,” said Pastor DeWayne McCoy of Faith in Action Nevada, who joined United Ratepayers for a press conference held after the action. “Communities should not be burdened with rising costs that have resulted in struggling families and power shutoffs at record rates. It is unconscionable. People deserve an energy system rooted in fairness, accountability and care for our neighbors.”
Two weeks later, more than 400 ratepayers attempted to deliver a letter to Berkhoff and other decision-makers at NV Energy, then attended a public hearing of the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada. The commission’s decision to force dozens of dozens of NV Energy ratepayers, including seniors, wait in triple-digit heat for a chance to speak at this once-a-year public meeting sparked outrage and earned wall-to-wall local media coverage with national syndication.