STATE
OF MISSOURI
PUBLIC
SERVICE COMMISSION
At a
session of the Public Service Commission held at its office in Jefferson City
on the 27th day of April, 2016.
In the Matter of The Empire District Electric )
Company, Liberty Utilities (Central) Co. and ) File
No. EM-2016-0213
Liberty Sub Corp. Concerning an Agreement and )
Plan of Merger and Certain Related Transactions )
ORDER REGARDING
APPLICATION TO INTERVENE
Issue Date: April 27, 2016 Effective
Date: April 27, 2016
On March 16, 2016, The Empire District Electric Company (“Empire”), Liberty Utilities (Central) Co. and Liberty Sub Corp. (collectively, “Joint Applicants”) filed a joint application asking the Commission to approve a transaction in which Liberty Utilities (Central) Co. would acquire all of the common stock of Empire. On March 17, 2016, the Commission issued an order directing notice of the application and setting a deadline of April 14, 2016 for persons requesting to intervene in this matter. On April 14, 2016, the Laborers’ International Union of North America (“LiUNA”) filed a timely application to intervene. The Joint Applicants have objected to the intervention.
Missouri law provides the authority for the Commission to grant intervention in matters before it.[1] This authority provided by the legislature is broad and discretionary.[2] The Commission’s administrative rule governing intervention, Commission Rule 4 CSR 240-2.075(3), states, in part, that:
The commission may grant a motion to intervene or add new member(s) if—
(A) The proposed intervenor or new member(s) has an interest which is different from that of the general public and which may be adversely affected by a final order arising from the case; or
(B) Granting the proposed intervention would serve the public interest.
The Joint Applicants state in opposition to the intervention that (1) although LiUNA may represent workers in various fields that live in the service area of the Joint Applicants, LiUNA does not have a collective bargaining agreement or any other business relationship with the Joint Applicants; (2) LiUNA has not sufficiently demonstrated that its interests are different from those of the general public or that it has any interest that will be affected by this case; (3) LiUNA has failed to explain how its intervention and participation in this case would serve the public interest, and (4) LiUNA’s interests will be adequately represented by the Office of the Public Counsel.
LiUNA responds by arguing that (1) while LiUNA does not currently have a collective bargaining agreement with Empire, the utility may have unorganized employees with the types of skills that LiUNA does organize and with whom LiUNA may wish to organize in the future; (2) LiUNA and its members have significant connections to the regulated utility operations of Empire, including past labor contracts and potential future contract relationships; (3) allowing intervention would serve the public interest by permitting LiUNA to explore the potential impact of the merger upon employment availability at Empire facilities; and (4) LiUNA’s interest in the future employment status of its members at Empire’s facilities and the conditions of that future employment is an interest that is different from that of the general public and would not be adequately represented by the Office of the Public Counsel, which focuses its representation on the impact to ratepayers.
“[N]o direct pecuniary or property rights, or infringement of civil rights of a person, must be involved before [an applicant] could be a party to a proceeding before the Commission”.[3] It has been the Commission’s practice to liberally grant intervention to organizations that promote various public policy positions in order to consider a full range of views before reaching a decision. LiUNA’s arguments are persuasive that it has an interest different than that of the general public, that it may be adversely affected by a final order in this case, and that its participation as a party would serve the public interest. The Commission concludes that LiUNA’s application satisfies all requirements of Commission Rule 4 CSR 240-2.075, and intervention will be granted.
THE COMMISSION ORDERS THAT:
1. The application to intervene filed by the Laborers’ International Union of North America is granted.
2. This order shall be effective when issued.
BY
THE COMMISSION
Morris L. Woodruff
Secretary
Hall, Chm., Stoll, Kenney,
Rupp, and Coleman, CC., concur.
Bushmann, Senior Regulatory Law Judge