Effective today, NV Energy (NYSE:NVE), is decreasing its overall electric rates by 6.73 percent for northern Nevada customers and decreasing overall natural gas rates by 8.39 percent for Reno-Sparks customers. 

With this decrease, electric rates will have decreased nearly 19 percent, while natural gas rates have dropped nearly 20 percent since January 2009.  According to the company, adding today’s decreases will rollback electric and natural gas prices to 2005 levels, which is good news for customers heading into the winter heating season.

Company officials attributed the decreases to a variety of factors, including the completion of the state-of-the-art Tracy Combined Cycle Generating Station, which is one-third more efficient in producing electricity than other conventional gas-fired power plants. Prices in the energy markets have also declined, meaning fuel to generate electricity costs less and these savings are passed on to customers in the form of lower electric rates.  The same is true for natural gas, which the company purchases on behalf of its gas customers.

Currently a typical electric customer is saving approximately $14 each month over January 2009 rates and today their rates were reduced by another $6 per month. Typical natural gas customers have been saving approximately $9 per month over 2009 rates and today their rates were reduced by an additional $5 per month.

Effective October 1, a typical residential customer using 740 kilowatt hours of electricity per month, will see their bill decrease from $93.31 to $87.43.  New natural gas decreases effective October 1 further reduce a typical residential customer's bill using 56 therms of gas from $63.67 to $58.58.  According to state law, costs for fuel and purchased power are passed along to customers dollar-for-dollar, with no profit for the company. 

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.  NV Energy serves approximately 320,000 electric customers in northern Nevada and 150,000 natural gas customers in the Reno-Sparks area.