The Public Utilities Commission of Nevada (http://puc.state.nv.us/uec.htm) regulates the activities of the companies that provide energy and water, as well as telecommunications and sewage services, to our state's residents. The regulated sellers of energy in our state comprise 10 electricity companies, 2 natural gas companies, 5 LP gas companies, 2 geothermal energy companies and 11 companies classified as sellers of alternative energy sources. There are also 30 water/sewer companies and several hundred sellers of telecommunications that are regulated by the Commission.

Nevada, which has adopted an official policy of encouraging renewable energy, ranks ninth in the United States in generating electricity from non-hydro renewable energy sources: wind, geothermal, biomass, and solar (seven percent of our electricity comes from hydro-electric power). To make energy affordable to everyone in our state, utilities collect a Universal Energy Charge, a surcharge that the Legislature imposed on most utility customers (electric and gas) to fund a program to help low income people pay their energy bills.

See also: Energy, Technology