Utilities

Power outage in Las Vegas

Your electric utility, not the county, is who fixes an outage. If keeping the bill paid is the problem, Nevada's shutoff rules and energy assistance are below, read off the regulation itself.

What to do first

1. Check the NV Energy outage map, then report the outage to NV Energy, the electric utility for most of Clark County — not to this site or to the county. Boulder City runs its own electric utility: call Boulder City Public Works/Utilities at 702-293-9266 (Monday to Thursday, 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.), or the city's non-emergency dispatch at 702-293-9224 after hours and on weekends. Their outage map lists each outage with its cause, how many customers are out, and an estimated restoration time. If your street isn't on it, they don't know yet.

2. If anyone in the home depends on powered medical equipment, or the heat is dangerous, that's an emergency — call 911, or get to a cooling center if one is open.

3. Protect the house while you wait. Check your breaker panel first — if only your unit is dark and you rent, see the renters section below. Keep the refrigerator and freezer shut, unplug electronics so the surge when power returns doesn't hit them, and never run a generator, grill or camp stove indoors or in a garage.

4. If the power is off because the bill is unpaid, not storm damage, the rules below decide whether the shutoff was allowed and how to get it postponed. Call the utility the same day and ask for a payment plan.

Shutoff for an unpaid bill: the rules

Rule	What it means for you	Source
Notice first	A written notice at least 10 days before the shutoff, then a second notice delivered at least 48 hours before it	NAC 704.360
No weekend shutoffs	No shutoff on a weekend, a holiday, or the day before either one	NAC 704.375(1)
Small balances	No shutoff for $50 or less owed; $100 or less on an advanced service delivery meter account	NAC 704.375(4)–(5)
Extreme heat or cold, southern Nevada	A nonpayment shutoff must be postponed when the National Weather Service forecasts 105°F or higher, or 15°F or lower. For a household with someone 62 or older or with a disability: 103°F, or 100°F in a mobile home built before 2000, and 20°F on the cold side	NAC 704.375(6)–(7)
Life support	No shutoff if the utility knows a resident confined to the home is on a life-support device that needs utility power and is likely to die without it	NAC 704.375(3)
Medical certificate	A statement from a licensed physician, public health official or advanced practice registered nurse that a shutoff would be especially dangerous to a resident's health, plus your signed statement that you can't pay or can pay only in installments, postpones the shutoff 30 days, renewable once for 30 more, with up to 90 days to pay in installments	NAC 704.370
Age 62+ or disability	The electric utility must give at least 48 hours' notice in person before shutting off the household	NAC 704.390
Someone else's bill	No shutoff over a previous occupant's bill, and no shutoff of your home's service over an unpaid business (nonresidential) account	NAC 704.380

Nevada Administrative Code chapter 704, sections 704.302 to 704.390, which apply to gas and electric utilities. "Elderly" means 62 or older (NAC 704.3065). Read 2026-10-20. These rules cover utilities regulated by the Public Utilities Commission, such as NV Energy (NAC 704.317). They don't cover Boulder City's city-run utility; ask the city for its shutoff rules.

Ask for these by name

Every gas and electric utility must run a program for customers who have trouble paying because of financial hardship (NAC 704.342), and must offer equalized billing, the same amount every month, while your service is still connected. If you are behind, you join equalized billing by paying at least half the past-due amount up front and spreading the rest over the first year (NAC 704.338). The utility may also postpone a shutoff if you agree to a payment plan it judges you can keep (NAC 704.372). If you are 62 or older or have a disability, you can name a third person, a relative or an agency, to get a copy of any shutoff notice (NAC 704.365).

Energy assistance income line

Household size	150% of the 2026 federal poverty guideline, yearly	Per month
1	$23,940	$1,995
2	$32,460	$2,705
3	$40,980	$3,415
4	$49,500	$4,125
Each additional person	+$8,520	+$710

NRS 702.260(3), NAC 702; 2026 HHS poverty guideline, Federal Register 2026-00755, read 2026-10-20. Monthly figures: Nevada Division of Social Services, Energy Assistance FY 2027 program year, July 1 2026 to June 30 2027, read 2026-10-23.

Check your household against this line and the SNAP and Medicaid lines in one go with the What am I owed? checker.

Nevada's energy assistance is run by the Division of Social Services under NRS 702.260, for households at or under that line. The Division may give emergency assistance when the cost or availability of electricity or gas threatens the health or safety of anyone in the household, on a good-faith belief that the household qualifies, without waiting for a full determination (NRS 702.260(5)). The 150% line applies to every household, including households on SNAP, SSI, TANF or a VA pension (NRS 702.260(3)).

Weatherization uses the same 150% line, and puts first in line a home whose cooling system is broken or unsafe in summer, or whose heating system is in winter. You need a copy of a utility bill for the dwelling for the month you apply (NAC 702).

If you rent and the landlord controls the power

If your lease or Nevada law makes the landlord responsible for electricity and it fails badly enough to make the place unfit to live in, give the landlord written notice. If it isn't fixed, or best efforts aren't made, within 48 hours not counting weekends and holidays, you may buy the service and deduct the cost, recover damages, withhold rent if you are current on rent, or move to comparable housing while rent stops (NRS 118A.380). If the landlord willfully cuts or interrupts the power, you can file a verified complaint for expedited relief within 5 judicial days; the court must hear it within 3 judicial days, can award up to $2,500 plus actual damages, and your filing fees are deferred (NRS 118A.390).

Programs and help that apply

211 — the live referral line for utility help and cooling centers.

Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada — free help if a landlord cut your power.

Good to know

Keep every shutoff notice and write down the date it arrived and how. If a shutoff comes early, on a Friday, or during a heat warning, those dates are your proof. When you call, ask for the medical certificate postponement, the hardship program or equalized billing by name — the person on the phone can't offer what you don't ask for.

To report an outage, call NV Energy, or Boulder City Utilities at 702-293-9266 in Boulder City. For help with an energy bill or a cooling center, call 211.