Six months after an investigation by state energy regulators found NV Energy overcharged certain customers millions of dollars for more than two decades, the utility on Thursday indicated the scope of the overcharging was much larger than it previously indicated.

Thursday’s filing by the utility in response to an investigation by staff at the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada indicates that NV Energy overcharged customers by more than $65 million between 2001 to 2024. The company, which scrubs billing records after seven years, previously said it did not have access to that information; instead, it estimated how much it overcharged during that period. 

Previous filings revealed the utility had overcharged tens of thousands residential customers more than $17 million between 2017 and 2024 by misclassifying their types of residence, meaning they were charged a higher rate than they should have been.

In October, state energy regulators ordered NV Energy to provide the estimated overcharges dating back to 2001, including any taxes.

The company used seven years of premise-specific energy usage billing data for misclassified properties to classify the estimated scope of the overcharging prior to 2017, along with the difference between historical rates for single-family and multifamily residences.

In Thursday’s filing, the utility stated “that these assumptions provide a conservative estimate” by assuming “that every such premises used the average amount of electricity from the date it was assumed to have been misclassified, without taking into account any vacancies or disconnections that occurred … As a result, the estimate likely overstates the actual amount of overcharges that occurred.”

A spokesperson for the utility did not respond to a request for comment from The Nevada Independent.

State energy regulators first learned of the misclassification through consumer complaints about insufficient refunds; energy regulatory staff initiated an investigation following the complaints.

“The overcharge scandal is just one example of NV Energy's pattern of bad behavior,” Kristee Watson, executive director of the Nevada Conservation League, said in a press release. “As we’ve seen through this investigation, when the public speaks up, there’s accountability.”

How it happened 

The misclassification occurred in two ways, according to the utility.

When the company introduced a multifamily rate in 2002, not all households were included. Other misclassifications occurred when a residence or multifamily complex was added to the utility’s system.

The utility did not voluntarily disclose its decades-long misclassifications, instead opting to issue partial refunds to a portion of the overcharged customers.

The utility issued refunds in the form of six-month credits or check refunds totaling $1.83 million in December 2024; in May 2025, the company issued an additional $3.56 million in refunds.

In September, the utility proposed to issue additional refunds, with interest, to affected customers retroactive to June 23, 2017. Refunds will appear as bill credits for customers with active accounts. Former customers will receive checks mailed to their last known address.