The men and women who service connected authorities boards and commissions should invited input from those they serve. So wherefore does it look that the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada is attempting to stifle nationalist comment?
NV Energy precocious projected a arguable caller “demand charge” that could summation the terms of energy during highest request periods. The contented has been connected caller agendas of the PUC, which oversees the state’s nationalist utilities. Opponents of the complaint person sought to marque themselves heard astatine committee meetings.
It hasn’t ever been easy.
Last week, the PUC convened for a Tuesday hearing. Typically, the sheet holds some an day and evening session, allowing moving Nevadans much opportunities to attend. This time, however, the committee members met lone successful the afternoon. Interest successful the gathering was higher than usual, but attendees were forced to hold extracurricular successful precocious vigor erstwhile the 50-seat gathering country deed capacity, the Nevada Current reported.
As a result, a large galore radical were forced to enactment up extracurricular successful triple-digit temperatures portion waiting to spot if they would beryllium allowed in. The Current reported that an overflow country was disposable but ne'er utilized.
“This is the archetypal clip successful the 16 years I’ve been going to user sessions that they did this,” attendee Angel DeFazio told the Current, adding that the inconvenience that galore attendees endured was an effort to deter nationalist participation.
Another critic, Jackie Spicer of the Nevada Environmental Justice Coalition, wrote successful a connection to the online quality site, “Typically, the PUCN opens an overflow league country erstwhile ample crowds amusement up. This year, the overflow country was afloat of constabulary officers, not the public. They are efficaciously discouraging the nationalist from raising our concerns.”
A PUC spokesperson defended the setup arsenic a means of assemblage power and ensuring nationalist safety. He told the Current that the committee provided “ice-filled coolers of acold h2o for attendees” who were forced to hold outside. How thoughtful.
This was an unforced error. PUC members cognize that the request complaint has stoked aggravated nationalist interest, making it adjacent much captious that citizens connected some sides of the contented beryllium allowed to explicit themselves astatine meetings. The extremity indispensable beryllium to marque it much convenient for members of the nationalist to be and participate. If that entails securing larger venues, ensuring that overflow abstraction is disposable erstwhile needed oregon making different accommodations, truthful beryllium it. Public engagement should beryllium welcomed alternatively than subverted.
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