News Releases
California PUC Grants Sierra Pacific Increase in Electric Rates
Jan 8, 2004
9:00pm
Sierra Pacific Power Company
Contact: Faye I. Andersen
Phone: (775)-834-4822
For Immediate Release
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) today approved an increase in rates for the approximately 45,000 electric customers in the Lake Tahoe region of California served by Sierra Pacific Power Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sierra Pacific Resources (NYSE: SRP). Effective January 2004, the $3 million, or 8.8%, increase is applicable to all customer classes except medium and large commercial customers, who will instead see an increase in their monthly customer charge that offsets any overall increase in their rates. For typical residential customers using 650 kilowatt hours of electricity the increase will be $4.27 per month, or 6.7%. Sierra Pacific filed for the increase in April 2002 to cover capital expenditures for new investments in the company's electric system and maintenance of facilities to distribute electricity to customers, according to Jeff Ceccarelli, President of Sierra Pacific Power Company. "Even with this increase, our customers'electric rates are approximately 25-40 percent lower than they are for Californians served by the state's largest utilities,"Ceccarelli said. Sierra Pacific's request was the second of a two-phased filing the company began in June 2001. The first phase allowed the company to recover soaring costs of fuel and power purchased by Sierra Pacific on behalf of its customers during the 2000-2001 energy crisis throughout the West. The CPUC action today also reinstated the Energy Cost Adjustment Clause (ECAC), which will allow Sierra Pacific to file for periodic adjustments to reflect its actual costs for wholesale energy supplies. These costs are passed through dollar-for-dollar to customers with no profit to the utility. Under the ECAC, rates would be lowered if fuel and wholesale energy costs were to decline, or rates would increase if these costs were to rise. Approximately 80 percent of Sierra Pacific's California customers reside in the Lake Tahoe Basin. The company's California service area extends from Portola in the north to Markleeville and Topaz Lake to Coleville in the south. Sierra Pacific has approximately 275,000 customers in northern Nevada. Headquartered in Nevada, Sierra Pacific Resources is a holding company whose principal subsidiaries are Nevada Power Company, the electric utility for most of southern Nevada, and Sierra Pacific Power Company, the electric utility for most of northern Nevada and the Lake Tahoe area of California. Sierra Pacific Power Company also distributes natural gas in the Reno- Sparks area of northern Nevada. Other subsidiaries include the Tuscarora Gas Pipeline Company, which owns 50 percent interest in an interstate natural gas transmission partnership and several unregulated energy services companies.
Contact: Faye I. Andersen
Phone: (775)-834-4822
For Immediate Release
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) today approved an increase in rates for the approximately 45,000 electric customers in the Lake Tahoe region of California served by Sierra Pacific Power Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sierra Pacific Resources (NYSE: SRP). Effective January 2004, the $3 million, or 8.8%, increase is applicable to all customer classes except medium and large commercial customers, who will instead see an increase in their monthly customer charge that offsets any overall increase in their rates. For typical residential customers using 650 kilowatt hours of electricity the increase will be $4.27 per month, or 6.7%. Sierra Pacific filed for the increase in April 2002 to cover capital expenditures for new investments in the company's electric system and maintenance of facilities to distribute electricity to customers, according to Jeff Ceccarelli, President of Sierra Pacific Power Company. "Even with this increase, our customers'electric rates are approximately 25-40 percent lower than they are for Californians served by the state's largest utilities,"Ceccarelli said. Sierra Pacific's request was the second of a two-phased filing the company began in June 2001. The first phase allowed the company to recover soaring costs of fuel and power purchased by Sierra Pacific on behalf of its customers during the 2000-2001 energy crisis throughout the West. The CPUC action today also reinstated the Energy Cost Adjustment Clause (ECAC), which will allow Sierra Pacific to file for periodic adjustments to reflect its actual costs for wholesale energy supplies. These costs are passed through dollar-for-dollar to customers with no profit to the utility. Under the ECAC, rates would be lowered if fuel and wholesale energy costs were to decline, or rates would increase if these costs were to rise. Approximately 80 percent of Sierra Pacific's California customers reside in the Lake Tahoe Basin. The company's California service area extends from Portola in the north to Markleeville and Topaz Lake to Coleville in the south. Sierra Pacific has approximately 275,000 customers in northern Nevada. Headquartered in Nevada, Sierra Pacific Resources is a holding company whose principal subsidiaries are Nevada Power Company, the electric utility for most of southern Nevada, and Sierra Pacific Power Company, the electric utility for most of northern Nevada and the Lake Tahoe area of California. Sierra Pacific Power Company also distributes natural gas in the Reno- Sparks area of northern Nevada. Other subsidiaries include the Tuscarora Gas Pipeline Company, which owns 50 percent interest in an interstate natural gas transmission partnership and several unregulated energy services companies.
Typical Residential Rates Per kWh based on 650 kWh
Utility Cents per kWH San Diego Gas and Electric 14.98 Southern California Edison 13.50 Pacific Gas&Electric (San Jose) 13.05 Lassen Municipal Utility District 12.04 Truckee Donner Public Utility District 11.56 PacificCorpÂ- California Proposed10.55 Sierra PacificÂ- California 10.45 Sierra PacificÂ- Nevada 10.44 Plumas-Sierra Rural Electric Cooperative 9.88 Sacramento Municipal Utilities District 8.88 Sierra Pacific Power Company California Residential Rates per kWh
2004 10.45¢ 2003 09.94¢ 2002 09.94¢ 2001 07.94¢ 2000 07.94¢ 1999 07.94¢ 1998 07.94¢ 1997 09.40¢ 1996 09.40¢
