[SinCityModern]

If you are looking at a specific home say for purchase or for rent you can check with the utility companies such as NV power or LVV Water district and they can actually provide you with monthly averages for a particular address.

[mhelweg]

Power prices in Nevada are disgusting. When I first moved to Las vegas in 1996 the power and gas rates were some of the lowest in the country. Then the big brains at Nevada Power managed to fumble on a power contract deal and ended up passing the screw up on to the consumers to the tune of 933 million dollars.
Well they must have realized how easy it was to jerk off the local consumers because since the summer of 2001 nevada power has increased the cost of energy 400% (this fact is verifiable) I live in a 2br condo in Downtown Las Vegas and my electric bill for July + August 2007 was $610.00. It is getting to the point of choosing between food or electricity. In June of this year the power utility was granted an 11% rate hike even though the same utility filed a 3.8 BILLION revenue for 2006. The stock has gone from $3 in 2003 to over $18 today. So if you are in the power business, Las Vegas is a gamble you cant lose on.

[lvknight]

If your renting it will be to your advantage to find a newer home. Our house was built in 1980. The a/c unit is about 5 years old. I installed cieling fans in all rooms, and put new weatherstripping on the doors. Doors and windows are all original to the home. Keeping the 'stat at 81 during the day, and 77 when we go to bed our bill was 325 last month. Thats an 1134 square foot home, gas water heater, clothes dryer and stove. I also have compact flourescents in all the lights except the 2 cieling fans that are on dimmers.

[cjski21]

Do the power companies do an average for the year? Here where I live now, our power bills are significantly higher in the winter so the power company will average the yearly cost and divide it by 12 for even payments every month. Then they will just catch up with us once a year. It's not bad that way. Does Nevada Power do anything like this?

[dynimagelv]

Originally Posted by cjski21

Do the power companies do an average for the year? Here where I live now, our power bills are significantly higher in the winter so the power company will average the yearly cost and divide it by 12 for even payments every month. Then they will just catch up with us once a year. It's not bad that way. Does Nevada Power do anything like this?

I 'THINK' they do but i do believe that you have to have a one year history under your own name before they do.

I just do my own averaging and end up in Dec with a couple of months free.

[olecapt]

Nevada Power- Equal Payment (http://www.nevadapower.com/services/residential/payment/equal_payment/ - broken link)

[cap1238]

Wow! I am presently in the midst of relocating from upstate New York to Vegas, and after reading some of these posts, any doubts I may have had are gone. I presently pay (on average) $350 a month just for my electricity. I heat my 2400 sf home with oil - using approximately 1000 gallons per year (keeping my home a modest 67 degrees, much to the chagrin of the rest of my family) at roughly $2.89 per gallon - price as of April 2007. Water is included in my property taxes, but we do have to pay an additional usage charge of approximately $200 a year as well as garbage removal of about $50 per month. You gotta love New York state - sales tax of 8%, property/school taxes on a house assessed at $108,000 at $3500 per year (figure based on selling price of home 11 years ago) and talk of town reassessing homes and basing taxes on present values. Additionally, we are in the top 5 highest taxed states in the country. Vegas, here we come!!!

[Sorcerer68]

I haven't lived there in 6 years but I have to say that electricity is cheaper in LV than any other place I've ever lived...but you have to run your a/c or heat all year. Still, my bills weren't bad at all.

[Lola Granola]

Agree... Our bills were higher in the midwest, with less usage.

[PinkString]

6 years ago electricity was quite cheap in Las Vegas.
Within the last 3-4 years, Nevada Power went on a greed trip and decided to make us all pay for their bad financial decisions in the past. They've hiked our rates higher and higher and there are still rate hikes planned for the future.
Someone needs to come here with another power company and give us some cheaper competition.

I think it's pretty bad when some of us conserve so much that we are suffering all summer long just to get lower power bills, and it hardly makes much of a difference.
Looking forward to winter. At least Southwest Gas isn't into the greed thing.(so far anyway) It's super cheap to heat your homes here and I never turn on my heat until november-feb.