Nevada communities with more than 100,000 residents must now build extreme heat response into their long-range planning documents, under a law that took effect this month, and one legislator is…
LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — After widespread community concerns regarding accessibility at Public Utilities Commission of Nevada meetings, agency staff are responding.
Assembly Bill 96 requires jurisdictions over 100,000 people to add heat mitigation.
“That can have greater health risks for people who are exposed to higher temperatures; people can be paying higher energy bills,” said Jackie Spicer, coordinator of the Nevada Environmental Justice Coalition. “If they are folks who live in older homes, they have to use their ACs more to combat that.”
The Nevada Environmental Justice Coalition slammed the PUCN on June 16 after people were shut out of a hearing on NV Energy’s controversial daily demand charge. Only 50 people were allowed to attend. The group cited a pattern of obstruction and said they were documenting the problem, listing some of their complaints:
Photo: Dr. Mary House, in orange, is seen on video talking about NV Energy during the general consumer session held by Public Utilities Commission on Tuesday, June 16, 2026, in Las Vegas. (Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @csstevensphoto Las Vegas Review-Journal June 23, 2026 – 9:02 pm Link: https://www.reviewjournal.com/opinion/editorials/editorial-puc-should-welcome-public-input-not-discourage-it-3842173/ The men and women who serve on […]
“If this new charge is too complicated for the utility company to calculate our bills after nine months, how could ratepayers ever expect to reasonably predict our own bills?” asked Jackie Spicer of the Nevada Environmental Justice Coalition.
“We are asking the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada to be accessible and accountable to the public they claim to serve,” Jackie Spicer of the Nevada Environmental Justice Coalition said in a statement to the Current. “By leaving residents outside in triple-digit heat, including elders and people with health issues, the Commissioners are making it clear they do not care about residents.”
Nevada’s biggest cities and counties are changing their master plans to comply with a state law that takes effect this year, but new language alone may not have much tangible impact.
“This proposal should be viewed in the context of a rapidly expanding data center industry in our state, not as a single isolated building,” said Jackie Spicer with the Nevada Environmental Justice Coalition. NV Energy, she noted, is considering building new natural gas plants to keep up with energy demand driven in part by data centers.
