NV Energy talks of predictable, stable rates

NV Energy ratepayers should look forward to “predictable, stable rates” from a disciplined company, the president said Wednesday.

Paul Caudill, who took over NVE leadership from the retiring Michael Yackira in the aftermath of a Dec. 19 merger, also told local and state office holders, bureaucrats, people with nonprofits and business representatives that the firm that purchased NVE and merged it into a family of energy companies has extensive experience in renewable energy opportunities.

MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co. of Iowa, which changed its name Wednesday to Berkshire Hathaway Holdings, is part of Omahan Warren Buffett’s multibillion-dollar stable of companies and investments. Berkshire Hathaway owns almost 90 percent of the Des Moines-based energy firm.

“The bottom line is, we know this model can work,” said Caudill, who will be based in Nevada but still has a Nebraska home not far from Omaha. He was with a MidAmerican solar company before he came to NVE.

“A tremendous amount of work went into this transition,” he said, noting the merger “provides the best of both worlds” by pairing large energy company strengths with a state/local focus for NVE. He said the company didn’t recover acquisition costs or cut NVE staff when NVE was brought into the larger Berkshire Hathaway family of firms. He said other mergers have resulted in cutting employees, but that won’t occur in this case.

“We will not do that as we move forward,” he pledged.

Mary Simmons, NVE vice president of business development and community strategy, said the NVE rate structure is competitive nationally and in the region.

Simmons said that in the mountain West, NVE is “pretty close to the average” and 38 percent lower than California. She said rates at NVE are about 10 percent lower than nationwide. She also said NVE has recently filed for a rate decrease of 2.8 percent, and the target date for that is October. NVE serves about 1.3 million gas and electric customers.