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Northern Nevada customers of NV Energy will soon see a decrease in both electric and natural gas rates, thanks to declining fuel and purchase power costs.  These decreases in rates were approved today by the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada (PUCN) and will become effective October 1, 2009.

Northern Nevada electric customers will see an overall 7.6 percent decrease in rates, or a $7.21 per month drop in price for a typical residential customer using 740 kilowatt hours of electricity, from $105.43 to $98.22.  For NV Energy's Reno-Sparks natural gas customers, an overall 8 percent decrease was also approved. The bill for a typical natural gas customer using 56 therms will decrease from $76.25 to $70.41 or $5.84 per month.

"As we head into the winter months, this is the best possible news for both our customers and the company,"said Mary Simmons, vice president for external affairs for NV Energy."Natural gas markets in particular have decreased prices and we're pleased to be able to pass those savings on to our customers."

Both the electric and natural gas rate decreases are based on prices that NV Energy pays suppliers for fuel and purchased power.  The costs are passed through, both decreases and increases, on a dollar-for-dollar basis to customers with no profit to the company. 

Today's approval of a rate decrease by the PUCN was originally requested by NV Energy in a mandatory annual filing made in February 2009.  That amount, coupled with a mandatory quarterly adjustment set to take effect October 1, combined to make the nearly 8 percent decrease possible for both electric and natural gas customers.

Even with declining utility prices heading in to winter, Simmons encouraged customers to consider energy efficiency improvements that will help hold down their electric and gas bills. "It's time to begin those improvements now so they are in full effect for the winter months when bills are typically higher in northern Nevada,"she said.

Headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada, NV Energy, Inc. is a holding company whose principal subsidiaries, Nevada Power Company and Sierra Pacific Power Company, are doing business as NV Energy. Serving a combined 54,500-square-mile service territory that stretches north to south from Elko to Laughlin, NV Energy provides a wide range of energy services and products to approximately 2.4 million citizens of Nevada as well as approximately 40 million tourists annually.

These statements contain forward-looking statements regarding the future performance of Nevada Power Company d/b/a NV Energy, within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, risks related to constructing and financing solar renewable energy projects, regulatory approval and permitting, and fluctuating PV output from the plants. Additional cautionary statements regarding other risk factors that could have an effect on the future performance of NV Energy, are contained in the Annual Reports of NV Energy, Inc. and Nevada Power Company d/b/a NV Energy on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2008 and in its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2009, filed with the SEC. NV Energy undertakes no obligation to release publicly the result of any revisions to these forward-looking statements that may be made to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.