2023 Nevada Revised Statutes › Chapter 704 - Regulation of Public Utilities Generally › NRS 704.991 - Plan to meet needs for natural gas at lowest reasonable cost: Triennial filing required; contents prescribed by regulation; requirement to provide overview to certain persons before filing.

1. To ensure all energy users continue to have access to safe, reliable, sustainable and affordable energy resources for their homes and businesses, a public utility which purchases natural gas for resale to 10 or more customers in this state shall, on or before October 1, 2025, and every third year thereafter, file with the Commission a plan designed to meet the current and future needs for natural gas at the lowest reasonable cost to the public utility and its customers. The Commission shall prescribe by regulation the contents of such a plan, including, without limitation:
(a) The anticipated demand for natural gas made on the system of the public utility by its customers;
(b) The estimated cost of supplying natural gas sufficient to meet the demand and the means by which the public utility proposes to minimize that cost;
(c) The sources of planned acquisitions of natural gas, including an estimate of the cost and quantity of the acquisitions to be made from each source and an assessment of the reliability of the source;
(d) Significant operational or capital requirements of the public utility related to its provision of gas service in this state that the public utility plans to implement within the 3 years immediately following the date on which the plan is filed with the Commission;
(e) Activities and programs that will be implemented by the public utility to promote energy efficiency and conservation;
(f) Renewable natural gas activities described in subsection 3 of NRS 704.9997 that will be engaged in by the public utility and any other proposed activities or expenses of the public utility related to commercially-available nongeologic gas supplies, carbon offsets, load management or carbon capture, use and storage;
(g) An analysis in support of the plan based on information available at the time the plan is filed, including, without limitation:
(1) An assessment of supplies of geologic and commercially available nongeologic gas, including, without limitation, renewable natural gas, carbon-neutral natural gas and responsibly sourced or transported natural gas;
(2) An assessment of opportunities for gas storage, including, without limitation, contracted storage and storage owned by the public utility;
(3) An assessment of the capability and reliability of pipelines used for transmission;
(4) An analysis of the greenhouse gas emissions reasonably expected to be avoided or reduced through the plan, including, without limitation:
(I) An explanation of the methodology used by the public utility to calculate the greenhouse gas emissions that are expected from the use of natural gas by customers of the public utility; and
(II) An estimate of the reductions in greenhouse gas emissions attributable to specific activities or investments of the public utility;
(5) A comparative evaluation of the cost of supply purchasing strategies, storage options, delivery resources and improvements in energy efficiency, conservation and load management using generally accepted methods for calculating cost effectiveness; and
(6) An analysis of the estimated impact of the investments and activities planned by the public utility on the rates charged to customers.
2. The Commission shall require each public utility, not less than 4 months before filing a plan required pursuant to this section, or within a reasonable period before filing an amendment to such a plan pursuant to NRS 704.9915, to meet with personnel from the Commission and the Bureau of Consumer Protection in the Office of the Attorney General and any other interested persons to provide an overview of the anticipated filing or amendment.
3. The Commission shall prescribe by regulation a cost threshold above which a project is considered a significant operational or capital requirement required to be included in a plan pursuant to paragraph (d) of subsection 1.
(Added to NRS by 1987, 699; A 1997, 1913; 2023, 1526)