NV Energy to Give Back $32.6M to Customers After Billing Mix-Up Investigation

NV Energy announced Thursday it will issue an additional $32.6 million in refunds to customers who were overcharged due to long-standing billing errors. The Nevada Public Utilities Commission will review the proposed refunds before they are distributed to customers.

"We deeply regret these failures and recognize the impact the failures had on affected customers," the utility stated in its Thursday filing, adding that it is "committed to taking the steps necessary to regaining public trust."

The company confirmed it will retroactively issue refunds dating back to June 23, 2017, including interest. Current customers will receive bill credits, while former customers will be mailed refund checks.

The overbillings that continued into 2025 were the result of misclassifying approximately 42,800 multifamily housing units as single-family houses. This error affected approximately 60,000 customers and caused more than $17 million to be overbilled from 2017 through 2024. NV Energy supplies electricity to more than 1.4 million customers and natural gas to 187,000 customers in Nevada.

The misclassification originated in 2002 when the multifamily rate schedule was first introduced. It was not discovered until January 2024, when a customer reported billing issues, prompting a broader internal review. The company also acknowledged the use of incorrect property data and the application of a rule that capped refunds at six months, which it now seeks to correct.

"We regret the impact this error has caused our customers," Brandon Barkhuff, President and CEO of NV Energy, said in a press release. "It's important that we learn from this mistake and seek continuous improvement. We are committed to ensuring our systems and processes reflect the accuracy and accountability moving forward and are implementing better procedures and controls to prevent this from happening again."

The company plans to hire a third-party firm to review its corrective actions independently and will not seek reimbursement from customers who underpaid because of the error. It will also hold a public workshop on Oct. 14 to discuss the issue and planned solutions.

The controversy arose just before the resignation of former CEO Doug Cannon. NV Energy has pledged to implement new internal protocols for rate changes, property notifications, and residence classification verification to prevent future errors. The utility's shareholders will absorb the costs of the refunds.