NV Energy is back at the Public Utilities Commission with a fresh blueprint to toughen up Nevada's power system against fires, storms and other costly surprises, laying out a third round of projects that would stretch across the state and across three calendar years.
The latest proposal, covering a 2027 through 2029 action period, appears as docket 26-02034 at the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada. It is a joint filing by Nevada Power Company and Sierra Pacific Power Company, logged on March 2, 2026 and now formally assigned to commissioners for review.
What the filing would do
On paper, NV Energy's new Natural Disaster Protection Plan looks a lot like its earlier versions, just pushed into the next three-year cycle. The company groups its proposed work into familiar categories: risk-based decision-making, situational awareness, improved emergency response, inspections, vegetation management, system hardening and community engagement.
The application describes this as the third three-year cycle of the Natural Disaster Protection Plan, expected to run from 2027 through 2029. "Over the past several years, our Natural Disaster Protection Plan has delivered meaningful improvements in safety, resilience and preparedness across the state," Jesse Murray said in a statement to FOX5 Las Vegas.
On the ground, that umbrella language translates into a mix of projects, including weather stations and wildfire cameras, vegetation work and targeted system hardening, all framed as tools to deal with natural hazards.
Costs and who pays
The Natural Disaster Protection Plan does not get paid for out of thin air. Funding comes through a dedicated line item on customer bills, a statewide per-kWh surcharge that was authorized in 2019 by Senate Bill 329. The law set up the recurring planning process and allowed utilities to seek cost recovery for approved projects.
Prior Natural Disaster Protection Plan filings have asked for hundreds of millions of dollars in spending, with NV Energy's 2024 through 2026 proposal pegged at roughly $373 million. That kind of price tag, combined with the statewide funding model, has drawn pushback from some large customers and from the state's consumer advocate. As Las Vegas Review-Journal reporting noted, the 2024 through 2026 plan was structured as a multiyear package of projects, while The Nevada Independent has detailed debates over geographic fairness and how much Southern Nevada customers help pay for work concentrated in the north.
Next steps at the commission
The Public Utilities Commission will now pick apart the filing, deciding which projects to authorize and whether NV Energy can recover the associated costs from ratepayers. The review typically includes written testimony, evidence from the company and intervenors, and a chance for public comment before regulators vote.
At the time FOX5 Las Vegas reported on the application, no hearing had been scheduled.
Why it matters locally
If regulators sign off, the plan would pay for a fairly nuts-and-bolts list of work: more weather stations and wildfire cameras, targeted line undergrounding or installation of covered conductors, expanded vegetation removal and additional inspections and staff training aimed at faster response during high-risk events.
NV Energy's earlier filings and testimony cite these same tools, and the company's regulatory documents describe how such programs are supposed to reduce the chance of utility-caused ignitions and trim outage durations. Those materials are available in the company's regulatory filing archive and are used to explain how the work is intended to protect communities from long outages and limit the economic fallout when fires or storms hit.
The joint application can be tracked in PUC docket 26-02034 as the review moves forward. The commission will publish formal notices when hearings and public comment periods are set. Coverage will be updated if the commission schedules a hearing or issues an order that changes the scope or cost of the plan.
