Separate consumer sessions are scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday by the Nevada Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to allow for public input on a $4.6-8.5 million proposed rate decrease in the state for Las Vegas-based Southwest Gas Corp. The decrease in its annual gas cost adjustment process will be greater in the southern half of the state.

The first workshop will be Wednesday in Carson City, NV, where customers in northern sections of the state will see a decrease of about 3.69%; on Thursday, the workshop will be in Las Vegas where the average residential decrease will be slightly less than 2%. Both rate adjustments will be effective Nov. 1, the PUC said.

Revenues in the south will drop by about $8.56 million, and in the north by $4.68 million, according to a Southwest Gas spokesperson in Las Vegas. The Nevada PUC said it will hold a formal evidentiary hearing on the rate adjustment Sept. 30 in Carson City.

Separately, Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services (S&P) reaffirmed Southwest’s credit rating (“BBB-“) Monday, along with placing its outlook as “positive,” reflecting what the rating agency said were the “expectation that the company’s improved financial performance, coupled with an improved business risk profile, is likely to lead to a higher rating over the near term.” S&P said the future improvement in risk profile and credit ratings is “largely dependent” on the outcome of a pending rate case in Arizona.

In August Southwest, which serves natural gas customers throughout Arizona and the eastern fringe mountain and desert regions of California in addition to Nevada, reported a net loss for the second quarter ($2.7 million, or 6 cents/share) compared to a smaller loss for the same period the previous year ($337,000, or 1 cent/share), attributing the red ink to the seasonal nature of the gas-only distribution business.

Southwest has a general rate case in Arizona before the state regulatory commission, seeking a $50 million increase. A recommended order from the administrative law judge in the case is expected this month, said a spokesperson with the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC). The utility originally asked for an Oct. 1 effective date, and that would only be possible if the five-member ACC takes up the case at its next open meeting scheduled for Sept. 23-24.

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