County pays nearly $15M in resident power bills

Clark County spent nearly $15 million to pay overdue energy bills for more than 41,000 residents this week in an effort to provide relief to the many households grappling with the economic devastation of the coronavirus.

“The pandemic has been incredibly hard on the residents of Southern Nevada,” said Commission Chairman Marilyn Kirkpatrick in a statement. “Our families are struggling and they shouldn’t have to choose between putting food on the table and paying their power bills.”

The $14.7 million payment to NV Energy was processed Tuesday, according to the county.

Most of the assistance was provided to those living in the unincorporated county, but aid was spread out to 12,000 residents in the city of Las Vegas and thousands more in Henderson, North Las Vegas and Laughlin.

The aid will be reflected as a credit on the accounts for affected customers, which

may take up to three business days to process and will be shown on the next billing statement, according to the county.

The assistance, backed by federal CARES Act funding, is not used to pay late fees or penalties associated with delinquent bills, according to the county, although NV Energy has agreed to forgive such costs for bills paid by the county.

“We hope this funding, in addition to the bill credit provided earlier this year by NV Energy, eases the financial burden of these customers who have been impacted by COVID-19, and brings them some relief,” said Doug Cannon, the president and CEO of NV Energy, in a statement.

In October, the county paid bills for some 15,700 residents in Southern Nevada, and on Wednesday officials underscored the massive need to help keep residents afloat.

Nevada families are having a difficult time paying their bills, including one-third in the middle class and half which earn less than $25,000 annually, according to a Rand Corp. survey cited by the county.

Eleven percent of families reported their household sometimes or often did not have enough food to eat in the past seven days, according to the county-cited Household Pulse Survey conducted in September.