NAC703.294. Petition for mediation.

     1. Any party to a negotiation may pursue mediation of any unresolved issue. To initiate such mediation, the party must:

     (a) Advise the other party to the negotiations that mediation is desired and propose a natural person to serve as a mediator; or

     (b) Submit a petition to the Commission for the designation of a mediator. Such a petition must include:

          (1) A statement of the issues to be submitted to mediation.

          (2) A list of potential mediators, if desired by the petitioner.

          (3) A certificate of service demonstrating that the petition has been served on the other party to the negotiations, the staff of the Commission and the Consumer’s Advocate.

     2. Not later than 7 days after the date on which the petition requesting mediation is filed, the other party to the negotiation may:

     (a) Identify other potential mediators;

     (b) Indicate whether any of the mediators proposed by the petitioner are acceptable; and

     (c) Identify any additional issues that should be subject to mediation.

     3. Not later than 15 days after the date on which the Commission receives the petition, the Commission will issue an order advising the parties of the name of the person who will serve as mediator and attach to the order a list of the issues that the parties have requested be subject to mediation.

     4. The parties to the mediation shall pay for the cost of the mediation as follows:

     (a) Fifty percent of the cost must be paid by the petitioning party.

     (b) Fifty percent of the cost must be paid by the party who is not petitioning.

     5. A mediator shall conduct the mediation without supervision by the Commission. Any session conducted by the mediator is not a public hearing or proceeding, and the mediator is not subject to any procedural requirements established by this chapter or chapter 704 of NAC.

     6. In conducting a mediation in accordance with this section, a mediator is not acting as an agent of the Commission and has no authority to act on behalf of or otherwise bind the Commission to any mediated decision.

     7. Any party to a mediation may unilaterally terminate the mediation if, after good faith efforts have been made to resolve any disputed issues, it does not appear that a mutually acceptable resolution of the issues will be achieved.

     (Added to NAC by Pub. Utilities Comm’n by R012-97, eff. 11-14-97)