LAS VEGAS Two more Las Vegas resort owners the Riviera hotel-casino and Station Casinos have added a surcharge to room rates to meet rising power costs. Both operators added a $3 per room, per night charge to help offset power rates that have increased 20% during the quarter that ended March 31. Two other local properties Harrah s Reno and Lake Tahoe also recently added the $3 surcharge.
Robin Farley, a Wall Street analyst for UBS Warburg, said Harrah s Entertainment could see an $8 million increase in power costs this year. With roughly 8,000 rooms in Nevada, a $3 per room surcharge based on a 95% occupancy rate comes out to about $8 million and change, she said. Meanwhile, MGM Mirage and Mandalay Resort Group are both facing an estimated $20 million increase in annual energy expenses. Park Place Entertainment Corp. is expecting an annual power bill increase of about $15 million, said UBS Warburg. (4/18/01)