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AB 449 would adjust thresholds for simplified rate procedures for small water and sewer utilities
Summary
AB 449 would raise the statutory size and revenue thresholds that define ‘‘small’’ water and sewer utilities eligible for simplified rate adjustments and increase the advice-letter revenue threshold for minor rate changes. Sponsor and PUC staff are working on technical language; the PUC indicated it supports continued negotiations.
Carson City — Assembly Bill 449, sponsored by Assemblymember Bert Gure, would revise statutory thresholds used by the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada (PUC) to determine which small water and sewer utilities may use simplified procedures to change rates without a full general rate case.
Karen Peterson of Allison MacKenzie, representing small water and sewer utilities including Pahrump Utility Company, told the committee that the bill makes two primary updates to long-standing statutory thresholds. The proposal in section 1 would raise the customer-count cap for the PUC’s small-utility category from 3,000 to 4,000 customers and increase the gross-operating-sales cap from $2,000,000 to $4,000,000. Peterson said the last statutory changes to those thresholds occurred in 1991 (customer limit) and 2009 (sales), and that the update is intended to reflect inflation and growth and to keep small utilities eligible for simplified inflation-based annual adjustments.
Section 2 would raise an advice-letter threshold — a mechanism that allows utilities to adopt limited rate changes without a full general rate case — from $15,000 to $100,000 in gross operating revenue. Peterson said that PUC oversight obligations remain unchanged: any advice-letter filing still triggers PUC review to ensure the proposed changes are justified.
PUC staff Don Lomoljo said the commission is working with the sponsor on amendments to address PUC concerns about listing specific fee types in statute and to ensure appropriate regulatory oversight. He said the PUC will continue negotiations with the sponsor and that staff and the sponsor have discussed regulatory language adjustments.
Why it matters
If adopted, AB 449 would broaden the set of water and sewer utilities eligible for streamlined rate adjustments tied to an inflation index or advice-letter processes, reducing the time and cost of rate requests for smaller utilities that serve rural and other communities.
What’s next
PUC staff indicated they are negotiating amendment language with the sponsor to resolve technical concerns. No committee vote was recorded in the hearing transcript excerpt.
Quoted
- "We respectfully request your consideration of the amendments to section 1 of AB 4 49," — Karen Peterson, Allison MacKenzie (representing small water and sewer utilities).
