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Las Vegas resident tells PUCN she was threatened over 88-year-old's power account, asks commission to investigate
Summary
At the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada meeting, Christina Esteras alleged NV Energy employees threatened to disconnect power, demanded bank-account information from her 88‑year‑old mother with Alzheimer's and urged the commission to investigate; commissioners took no formal action during the meeting.
Christina Esteras told the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada during public comment that NV Energy employees threatened to disconnect service and demanded bank-account information from her 88‑year‑old mother, who Esteras said suffers from Alzheimer’s.
Esteras, who spoke from Las Vegas, said the family was told her mother was dead and that she had to fly to Nevada to “prove” her mother was alive. Esteras said staff at the Social Security office told the family Social Security does not send letters to report deaths, that the agency could only confirm that the customer continued to receive benefits, and that the family had to wait hours in hot conditions to obtain that confirmation.
Esteras said NV Energy representatives then sought the customer’s bank-account information and threatened to disconnect service unless monthly withdrawals were authorized. “I refuse to give her the bank account number,” Esteras said, and later asked the commission to “investigate these dates and the threats that came from NV Energy employees.” She also said she and her family had filed a lawsuit related to the matter.
Esteras described additional harms she attributed to the company’s actions, including several days without air conditioning and financial strain that led her to obtain a $30,000 loan to switch to solar service. She said she provided dates and phone records to NV Energy staff but that a staff member she named, Alicia Cager (also transcribed as Alicia Kager/Keys), did not investigate the calls to her satisfaction. Esteras asked the commission for “a mission hearing” and for the commission to obtain phone‑call records.
Commissioners did not take any formal action or make public commitments in response to Esteras’s comments during the meeting. The commission’s chair closed the public‑comment period and the meeting proceeded to its consent and staff items.
The Public Utilities Commission of Nevada’s jurisdiction includes oversight of investor‑owned utilities such as NV Energy, but the transcript contains no staff report, motion, or vote on investigating the allegations during this meeting.
