Illustrative Case: Las Vegas Dispensary Cuts Summer On-Peak Demand on NV Energy TOU

The facility and starting situation

Assume a single-store adult-use dispensary in Las Vegas on a Nevada Power account [nve-south-commercial-rates]. Nevada counted 107 licensed dispensaries on the CCB active list dated September 1, 2026, including one medical-only location [ccb-active-license-list]. The lease is 4,800 square feet in a strip center: 3,200 square feet of sales floor, 800 square feet of secure storage, and back-of-house office and break space.

Loads include track and display lighting, two rooftop HVAC units, walk-in flower cooler and reach-in edibles cases, 24-hour security and POS, and a small office server rack. Clark County summers are hot and dry: statewide normals average 2,166 cooling degree days, with Las Vegas far above the statewide figure [noaa-cag-nevada]. Rooftop units run heavily from June through September.

The account elected schedule OLGS-1-TOU, the optional time-of-use version of LGS-1 for usage over 3,500 kWh per month with billing demand up to 299 kW [nve-south-commercial-rates]. On TOU schedules, the demand charge concentrates in summer on-peak hours: June 1 through September 30, 3:01 p.m. to 9 p.m. daily [nve-south-commercial-rates]. Nevada has no retail supply choice for this load size; NRS 704B requires 1 MW average annual load, which a dispensary will not reach [nrs-704b].

The store manager signed the TOU election in 2024 because the supply energy rate off-peak was lower. Nobody reviewed interval data until a July 2025 bill showed a $647 on-peak demand charge on top of $534 in facilities charges. Peak demand that month was 118 kW at 4:47 p.m. on a Friday, when both RTUs, the walk-in compressor, display lighting, and post-rush POS load stacked in the same 30-minute interval.

What the baseline bills showed

The table uses cited tariff structure with assumed usage. Rates and TOU windows are facts; kWh, kW, and totals are modeled inputs.

Line item	Assumption or rate	Typical month (July)	Typical month (January)
Floor area	4,800 sq ft
Peak demand	118 kW / 72 kW	118 kW (on-peak)	72 kW
Usage	14,800 kWh / 9,200 kWh	14,800 kWh	9,200 kWh
Rate schedule	OLGS-1-TOU [nve-south-commercial-rates]	TOU	TOU
Facilities charge	$4.60 per kW [nve-south-commercial-rates]	$543	$331
On-peak demand charge	$5.48 per kW, summer window [nve-south-commercial-rates]	$647	$0
Bundled energy	Modeled 11.0 cents per kWh	$1,628	$1,012
Modeled total		~$2,820	~$1,350

Annualized at those inputs: roughly 145,000 kWh and about $28,500 a year. The EIA June 2026 Nevada commercial average was 9.83 cents per kWh [eia-epm-5-6-a], which would imply about $14,200 on energy alone for the same usage. Delivery, facilities, and on-peak demand charges explain the gap. The US commercial average was 14.19 cents in the same period [eia-epm-5-6-a]; Nevada commercial was below national on average, but this TOU account still paid a premium in summer because of when the peak occurred.

Four summer months at $647 on-peak demand alone totaled $2,588 a year before facilities charges. That line had been invisible on the flat-rate quote the broker showed in 2024.

What changed

The operator pulled twelve months of Green Button interval data and ran a four-week peak-reduction pilot before spending capital.

HVAC pre-cool and staging. Both RTUs were reprogrammed to drop setpoints from 72 F to 68 F at 1:30 p.m., then float up to 76 F during the 3:01 to 9 p.m. on-peak block. Compressors did most of their work before the demand window. One unit was designated lead; the second staged on only if sales-floor temperature exceeded 78 F during on-peak. July peak demand fell from 118 kW to 94 kW.

Refrigeration sequencing. The walk-in cooler compressor had been on a dumb thermostat with no lockout. A $400 controller delayed compressor start if the box was below 38 F and blocked simultaneous start with either RTU for ten minutes. Reach-in cases stayed on continuous duty because product safety did not allow curtailment, but the walk-in cycle had been adding 8 to 12 kW at the worst times.

Display lighting dimming during on-peak. Track fixtures over non-product zones dimmed to 60 percent output from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. through existing 0-10V drivers. NV Energy's Instant Discount program offers point-of-sale rebates on eligible LED products [nve-instant-discount]; the store had already converted display lighting under that program in 2023, so the dimming work was control-only.

Interval monitoring cadence. The manager received a weekly text with the highest on-peak interval. See demand charges explained for why one 30-minute spike sets the charge.

The math after

Compare July before and after the pilot. Assume winter peaks were unchanged at 72 kW.

Line item	Before (July)	After (July)	Change
On-peak peak demand	118 kW	94 kW	−24 kW
On-peak demand charge	$647	$515	−$132
Facilities charge	$543	$433	−$110
Bundled energy	~$1,628	~$1,580	−$48 (slight kWh shift)
July total	~$2,820	~$2,530	~−$290

Annualized summer savings on demand lines alone: four months times $242 average per month is about $970. Facilities charge savings across summer add another $440. Total modeled annual reduction is roughly $1,800 on a $28,500 baseline, about 6 percent all-in.

The operator also modeled a 30 kW / 60 kWh battery under the PowerShift storage incentive, which pays $0.32 to $0.55 per Wh for systems under 100 kW on non-TOU rates and higher tiers for TOU customers, capped at 50 percent of cost or $50,000 [nve-storage-incentive]. At the TOU tier and a $45,000 installed cost, the incentive could cover up to $50,000 or half of cost, whichever is less. A 30 kW discharge through the on-peak window could shave another 20 kW if peaks were predictable. Payback at $1,800 a year baseline savings alone was longer than the operator's hurdle rate, so the battery stayed in the capital queue for 2027.

What did not work

Switching back to flat LGS-1. Non-TOU LGS-1 still bills a $5.48 per kW demand charge, but across all hours rather than only summer on-peak [nve-south-commercial-rates]. A spreadsheet showed flat LGS-1 would have cost roughly $200 more per month in July because the off-peak energy discount on TOU exceeded the demand penalty once peaks were managed.

Closing the store early during on-peak. Sales data showed 22 percent of daily revenue between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. on weekends. Curtailing operations was not viable.

NRS 704B supplier exit. At 14,800 kWh in a peak month and average load far below 1 MW, the store did not qualify [nrs-704b]. There is no CRES market for Nevada dispensaries.

PowerShift prescriptive HVAC rebate. The Business Energy Services summary lists HVAC measures but requires eligible equipment lists and application before purchase [nve-bes-summary]. The RTU programming change was operational, not a qualifying retrofit.

NV Energy time-of-use and cooling season

Las Vegas cooling degree days drive summer kWh and peak kW on dispensary HVAC. TOU schedules bill on-peak intervals separately from maximum demand on some rate classes. Shift non-critical load off peak where SOP allows without compromising product storage limits [noaa-cag-nevada].

NV Energy TOU and retail cooling load

Las Vegas summer peaks align with afternoon cooling when door traffic and ambient temperatures are highest. Shifting non-critical load off utility on-peak windows reduces both energy and demand components where the tariff separates them. Product storage limits still bound how far setpoints can float [nv-nv-energy-tariff].

Pre-cooling before on-peak windows

Retail dispensaries can pre-cool sales floors before NV Energy on-peak periods if product storage temperatures stay within spec. Log product temps during trials. A 1 degree F setpoint float during on-peak hours saved modeled kW in this example without vault excursions.

Vault temperature logging during TOU trials

Product compliance requires documented storage temperatures. Any TOU setpoint float during on-peak hours needs QA sign-off and log exports if regulators ask [nv-nv-energy-tariff].

Lessons that transfer to other Nevada dispensary operators

Read the TOU on-peak window before you elect OLGS-1-TOU: June 1 through September 30, 3:01 p.m. to 9 p.m. [nve-south-commercial-rates]. Pull interval data, not just monthly kWh. Pre-cool before 3 p.m. and stage RTUs so two compressors never start together during on-peak. Sequence walk-in coolers; they are often the hidden spike on top of HVAC. Use peak demand vs. peak usage to train staff on what drives the meter. Storage incentives favor TOU accounts but need a peak worth shaving [nve-storage-incentive]. Do not assume supplier shopping is available; Nevada retail choice for this class does not exist outside 704B [nrs-704b]. See the dispensary retail energy page and NV Energy territory rates.