Southwest Gas’s (SWG) president sent a letter to Governor Joe Lombardo on the final day of Nevada’s 2025 legislative session, urging the Governor to veto a bill requiring utilities to publicly report disconnection data, despite SWG taking a neutral stance in public at every legislative meeting on the bill. Governor Lombardo signed Senate Bill 442 (SB442) into law in June, requiring the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada (PUCN) to adopt regulations requiring utilities to submit quarterly reports providing data on the total number of monthly utility disconnections of residential customers and aggregating the information by zip code of the disconnected residences. 

With the passing of SB 442, Nevada joins the majority of states in the country requiring utilities to report disconnection data.

Nevada utilities take a neutral stance on SB 442 in the public eye

During the legislative hearings for SB 442, sponsored by the Senate Committee on Growth and Infrastructure, Nevada’s utilities – SWG and NV Energy – took neutral positions at every opportunity for public comment. In a Senate Committee on Growth and Infrastructure meeting, SWG’s Dylan Keith highlighted that the utility already analyzes data for disconnections on a month to month basis and provides phone calls and bill inserts to customers at risk of disconnection. Keith reiterated these points at an Assembly Committee on Growth and Infrastructure meeting, stating, “We’re very proud to be able to service and assist the community, and that’s why we’re neutral today.” 

At the same meeting, NV Energy referred to a presentation by the Sierra Club showing rising disconnection rates in the years since the COVID pandemic. Anthony Ruiz, the NV Energy representative, noted this is due to fewer disconnections during the pandemic and that the data only includes customers engaged in the utility’s payment program. Ruiz stated “it is difficult to draw conclusions” based on these factors, but the data used in the Sierra Club presentation was pulled from NV Energy’s own Annual Service Quality & Metrics report, highlighting the need for more robust disconnection reporting from the utilities and discussion around the information collected. 
In the final hearing for SB 442 at an Assembly Committee on Ways and Means meeting, SWG remained neutral in its position on the bill, but noted for the first time publicly, “This will increase administrative burden on our company, and therefore our customers. However, we are neutral today,” providing no further detail.

Southwest Gas President claims SB 442 could “undermine the integrity of utility operations”

On June 3rd, the same day Nevada closed its legislative session, SWG President Justin Brown emailed Governor Joe Lombardo requesting he veto SB 442, according to records obtained by EPI. The letter claims that “while transparency is a shared value, SB 442 creates an incomplete and potentially misleading picture of utility operations.” Brown goes on to say the reporting could “lead to misinterpretation by the public and media, damaging community trust and undermining the integrity of regulated utility operations” and asserts that SB 442 “imposes new administrative burdens without improving customer outcomes.” 

SB 442 supporters argue the bill would improve customer outcomes

Many environmental advocates, consumer advocates and individuals came out in support of SB 442, including the Attorney General’s Bureau of Consumer Protection (BCP), which advocates for ratepayers at the PUCN. Many groups highlighted a need for transparency in utility disconnection data to provide various state agencies and other stakeholders with information to identify Nevadans at the highest risk of disconnection and assess where to focus efforts to reduce energy burdens. Hector Areola of the Nevada Environmental Justice Coalition stated, “If we fail to measure the problem, we fail to protect our community.” 

The National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC), set a similar standard when it adopted a model resolution in November 2019, recognizing the value of “evidence-based policy” and recommended states consider requiring utilities to collect monthly data that tracks uncollectibles, number of payment arrangements, reconnections, duration and frequency of disconnections, and other relevant data points. NARUC also requested that this data be made public on a monthly basis and filed with public utility commissions. In 2022, the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates (NASUCA) adopted a more robust resolution that encouraged regulators to study and implement practices to reduce and minimize disconnections, among many issues. The resolution outlined specific data points that utilities should regularly report to state commissions. 

Las Vegas is one of the fastest-warming cities in the U.S., and although Nevada restricts shutoffs during heat of 95 degrees Fahrenheit or higher for seniors or persons with disabilities, that threshold is 100 degrees for northern Nevada customers in general, and 105 degrees for southern Nevada customers. Studies show that heat index conditions as low as 80 degrees can negatively affect human health. Rising temperatures in Nevada increase the number of Nevadans at risk of a shutoff from essential utility services, forcing them into impossible choices about where to spend limited funds. Further, the energy burdens for households of color and low-income households are significantly higher across the country, including spending more of their monthly income on energy bills, falling behind on payments for energy bills, foregoing other necessities to pay energy bills, and higher frequencies of disconnections. With electricity and gas demand growing across the country, including in Nevada, due to the expansion of data centers, utility costs could continue rising and burdens could grow for vulnerable households.

The only group to publicly appear in opposition to SB 442 was the Greater Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce, during the Senate Committee on Growth and Infrastructure meeting. SWG and NV Energy are both paying members of the Vegas Chamber, and SWG President Justin Brown and NV Energy CEO Brandon Barkhuff sit on the Board of Trustees.

SB 442 passing leads to rulemaking at PUCN 

With Governor Lombardo’s signing of SB 442, the PUCN opened Docket 25–07007 to adopt regulations in accordance with the bill, as required by Nevada statute. SWG, the BCP, and environmental and consumer advocates are intervenors in the process. PUCN staff submitted proposed regulations aligned with the language in SB 442. A workshop is scheduled for September 18.

Top image of the Nevada Legislature building by Quintin Soloviev via Wikimedia Commons