Nevada’s top energy regulator will step down from his post next month to take a job with the state’s higher education system.

Nevada Public Utilities Commission Chairman Joe Reynolds is expected to leave his position atop the three-member regulatory board next month to take a position as general counsel of the Nevada System of Higher Education, which oversees the state’s community colleges and universities.

In an email obtained by The Nevada Independent, NSHE Chancellor Thom Reilly announced that Reynolds would be taking over the general counsel position on Aug. 27, replacing Nicholas Vaskov, who is leaving to become Henderson’s city attorney. The email stated that Reynolds was “unanimously recommended” by a hiring committee.

In an email sent after this story was published, Reilly confirmed the hiring and lauded praise on Reynolds.

"Joe is a veteran of government service having advised Governor Sandoval on legal and policy matters as a member of his senior staff, chairing the Public Utilities Commission, and working as a state prosecutor,” Reilly said. “Joe’s professionalism and work ethic will be a welcome addition to NSHE.”

His departure will leave the PUC with two members — Ann Pongracz, who was appointed in October 2016, and Bruce Breslow, who was appointed in August 2017. Commissioners are appointed by the governor and serve four-year terms.

Reynolds was appointed to the commission in Oct. 2016 by Gov. Brian Sandoval, and oversees the operations of the regulatory agency, which has around 100 employees in Las Vegas and Carson City.

His appointment came at a tumultuous time for the regulatory agency after its decision to cut favorable net metering rates for rooftop solar customers in December 2015. The decision, which was prompted by a bill in the 2015 Legislature, resulted in rooftop solar companies leaving the state and the immediate drying up of the state’s home solar market.

The ensuing fallout thrust the regulatory body into the public spotlight — presidential candidates brought the issue up during their Nevada stump speeches, and celebrities including actor Mark Ruffalo appeared at commission meetings to complain about the decision.

Reynolds wrote the draft order last year implementing a change in the rate structure for net metering customers approved by the 2017 Legislature, rejecting a request by NV Energy to raise baseline rates for all electric customers to offset the alleged costs of servicing net metering customers, who receive a reimbursement tied to the retail rate of electricity for any energy placed back on the grid.

The industry has largely bounced back — a presentation by NV Energy earlier this month revealed it received more than 9,400 applications for net metering customers since the order was issued.

Reynolds also oversaw NV Energy’s three-year rate case in 2017, the state-mandated process requiring the utility to lay out any proposed changes in electric rates and their rationale. His draft order, which was approved by the commission, created the first cut in electric rates since 1979.

The commission approved further rate cuts in February suggested by NV Energy in light of the federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that reduced corporate tax rates by 14 percent. The decision led to a reduction in NV Energy’s revenue by about $83.7 million, equivalent to a rough savings of about $4.08 a month for Southern Nevada ratepayers and $3.89 a month for Northern Nevada residents on their gas and electric bills combined.

Reynolds also took steps to involve the commission in the fierce debate over the Energy Choice Initiative, authoring a 109-page report detailing possible effects and needed steps for the state to take if the proposed constitutional amendment becomes law. Although the report was neutral, it warned that approval of the measure would cost tens of millions of dollars to successfully set up and would potentially raise retail electric rates over the coming decade.

The report — and Reynolds — were sharply criticized by proponents of the measure, including Las Vegas Sands executive Andy Abboud. During a meeting of an advisory committee studying the ballot measure, Abboud called Reynolds a “rogue regulator” who issued a “flatly unlawful” report with predetermined conclusions.  

Reynolds formerly served as Sandoval’s general counsel and deputy chief counsel since 2014, and was formerly the chief deputy attorney general for the Bureau of Litigation of the Nevada attorney general’s office under former Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto. He initially studied to be a high school English teacher and received an undergraduate degree in Education from UNLV.