STATE OF MISSOURI

PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION

 

At a session of the Public Service Commission held at its office in Jefferson City on the 20th day of March, 2013.

 

 

In the Matter of a Working Case to Address               )

Legislative Concerns Regarding Proposals to              )         File No. EW-2013-0425

Modify Ratemaking Procedures for Electric Utilities     )        

 

 

ORDER OPENING AN INVESTIGATION TO ADDRESS LEGISLATIVE CONCERNS REGARDING PROPOSALS TO MODIFY RATEMAKING PROCEDURES FOR ELECTRIC UTILITIES AND ESTABLISHING A PROCEDURAL SCHEDULE

 

Issue Date:  March 20, 2013                                   Effective Date:  March 20, 2013

 

 

The Commission has received a request from a member of the Missouri General Assembly pursuant to Section 386.380, RSMo 2000 asking the Commission to investigate, conduct a hearing, and issue a Commission report regarding legislative proposals to modify ratemaking procedures for Missouri’s electric utilities, particularly as related to recovery of infrastructure investments.  The Commission has established this case to facilitate its response to that request.  

The member of the General Assembly has asked the Commission for analysis and information on the following:

·       The safety, adequacy and reliability of Missouri’s current electric infrastructure;

·       Identification of electric infrastructure problems, costs and needs;

·       Rate impact of the implementation of Senate Bill 207;

·       Electric utilities’ financial need for legislation;

·       Due process and appropriate procedure in respect to the new rate mechanisms proposed by Senate Bill 207;

·       Other information which the PSC finds relevant to this legislation.

In addition to the information specifically requested, the Commission intends to address these additional matters:

·       A comparison of the provisions of Senate Bill 207 and House Bill 398, and the various versions thereof, including the provision of House Committee Substitute for House Bill 398 that allows for a 45-day prefiling requirement to allow additional time for review, and any other differences the commenter deems relevant;

·       An evaluation of the cost tracking mechanism contained in the proposed legislation that is not directly related to infrastructure investments.

To assist in collecting and evaluating the information requested by the member of the General Assembly, the Commission invites interested stakeholders to submit their responses to the matters identified in the previous paragraph.  Because different versions of both the Senate and House bills have been offered and additional versions may be offered in the future, the Commission asks those offering comments to specify which version of the bills they are addressing.   

               This file will serve as a repository for documents and comments.  Using this file, any person with an interest in this matter may view documents and may submit comments or documents.  As this is not a contested case, anyone may file a comment without legal counsel and without ex parte constraints.  Intervention requests are not necessary to submit comments or view documents. 

The public is welcome to submit comments by forwarding electronic communications through the Commission’s electronic filing and information system (EFIS) or by mailing written comments.  You may submit electronic comments at the Commission’s website at http://www.psc.mo.gov.  (Click on the EFIS/Case filings link on the left side of the page.  Scroll down and click on the public comment link.  Please refer to File No. EW-2013-0425).  Written comments in hard copy should be addressed to the Commission at P.O. Box 360, Jefferson City, Missouri 65102 and should also reference File No. EW-2013-0425.  The public can view the contents of the file by following the link at http://www.psc.mo.gov. 

The Commission will establish a date for the filing of comments.  In addition, the Commission will schedule a comment hearing at which stakeholders may present oral comments, subject to questions from the Commission.  The Commission intends to issue its report to the legislature no later than Wednesday, April 17, 2013.

THE COMMISSION ORDERS THAT:

1.               Interested utilities, organizations, individuals, and other stakeholders may file written comments no later than April 1, 2013.

2.               A comment hearing is scheduled for April 8, 2013, beginning at 9:00 a.m. at the Commission’s office at the Governor Office Building, 200 Madison Street, Jefferson City, Missouri, Room 305.  This building meets accessibility standards required by the Americans with Disabilities Act.  If you need additional accommodations to participate in this conference, please call the Public Service Commission’s Hotline at 1‑800‑392-4211 (voice) or Relay Missouri at 711 before the conference. 

3.               The Commission’s data center shall provide a copy of this order to all parties to the most recent rate case for each of the investor-owned electric utilities in Missouri.

4.               The Commission’s information office shall provide notice of this order to appropriate news media and to each member of the general assembly.

5.               This order shall become effective upon issuance.

 

BY THE COMMISSION

 

 

 

Shelley Brueggemann

Acting Secretary

 

 

R. Kenney, Chm., Stoll, and W. Kenney, CC., concur;

Jarrett, C., concurs with separate concurring opinion to follow.

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Woodruff, Chief Regulatory Law Judge