Vote No on Question 3 to Ensure our Security
The average monthly power bill in Nevada costs $111, which could potentially be tripled if question 3 is passed and NV Energy breaks the monopoly. Question three is proposing to eliminate the monopoly that NV Energy withholds. As a student, I have researched heavily the negative impacts that passing this amendment would cause.
Other states such as California and Texas have eradicated the monopolies in their states and have suffered great consequences. The prices of power in Texas have gone up by 300% since the deregulation of their electricity market.
The only benefit that can come out of ratifying this amendment will be for big businesses but there is no guarantees that Nevada’s citizens will benefit. There is no plan as to who is going to take over or what competition is going to move into Nevada. There is no guarantee that the competitors that do take over in Nevada will provide lower power prices. Without a specific arrangement of the companies, who will take over? Approving this amendment will be a huge risk.
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Another main reason Nevadans want to get rid of the power monopoly is to introduce cleaner, renewable energy. The main issue with this concept is NV Energy owns and funds the vast majority of environmental groups. If NV Energy were to be voted out of the monopoly, the environmental businesses will lose a lot of their funding causing for employees to be lost and business to fail. Because converting our energy source from coal plants to renewable energy is such a high demand, NV Energy has already taken steps in the right direction to begin to solve this problem. NV Energy has invested over two billion dollars into switching to clean energy. Of course this process is not something that can happen within a few months but it is expected that 32% of energy used will be renewable by 2023. Currently, roughly 25% of energy used is renewable. Within the 5 five years that it will take NV Energy to reach 32%, it may take new companies decades to even catch up to the progress that NV Energy has already made. This could cause a huge set back in changing our energy source.
It is understandable to assume that if the monopoly is broken and other companies move, in the prices of power will go down due to the competition. Competition can also result in a bad way such as prices starting too high and not working down to a more reasonable price in order to promotes business. It is possible that of the few power companies that move in, one will catch the majority of clients and raise their prices since they are catering to so many people. If one company were to dominate the others this issue would only repeat itself causing for another monopoly to be formed.
NV Energy did not speak publicly on the topic immediately in order to let citizens educate themselves on the matter rather than trying to sway their opinion. This seemed to be very effective. In the 2016 election, the majority of voters chose to eliminate the monopoly, but in this upcoming election voters have moved into different options making it almost balanced between yes and no. Allowing voters to educate themselves on the disadvantages of passing this amendment has helped NV Energy immensely.
This will affect every Nevada citizen. Because of the steps NV Energy has already taken to accommodate the needs of the state, “Households and businesses served by NV Energy are expected to save nearly $700 million.” With the programs that NV Energy has implemented, they have saved Nevadans millions of dollars. NV Energy has been making efforts to lower our prices and bring in environmentally safe companies to introduce more clean energy. Having to restart all of these processes will be a set back for the state. Without NV Energy, it will take far too long to rebuild the power plants and start from scratch. Save the work that we have already done a building it will e a more beneficial route for all parties.
As a Nevadan you have to consider all of the possibility of failure. Voting out NV Energy can cause many negative effects within our state. As of now, the amount we pay for power is not unaffordable or unfair to citizens. Passing this amendment could potentially raise prices and cause for economical damage. Because there is no assurance that this will have a positive effect on Nevadans, the state is taking a great gamble on whether this will help or hurt the state.
