JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – The Missouri Public Service Commission (PSC) approved six orders Wednesday ranging from transferring property, raising rider charges, and denying a water company’s rehearing application.
The first order, an order to South Central MCN granting a Certificate of Convenience and Necessity, will transfer ownership of 10 miles of line connecting a plant in Springfield to Nixon. Chairman Daniel Hall remarked that all stakeholders were on board now. The order was approved unanimously.
The second and third orders discussed by the Commission discussed Kansas City Power & Light’s Demand Side Investment Mechanism (DSIM) adjustment. Both orders were approved 4-1, with Commissioner Steve Stoll being the only dissenting vote because he believed the adjustment “punishes customers for mistakes that the carrier made,” and instead preferred a different version of the order. Commissioner Bill Kenney disagreed with Stoll on the second order, saying he was persuaded by the ultimately approved Option 3 because it is the “most appropriate” to recover carrier costs in the short term.
The DSIM charge, which appears as a separate line-item on customer bills, allows KCP&L-GMO to recover demand-side management program costs and incentives. According to the application, a residential customer using 1,000 kWh (kilowatt-hours) of electricity a month will see the charge increase by approximately $0.69 a month. The increase is expected to take effect on August 1, 2016.
The remaining orders were approved unanimously by the Commission, including an order to open an investigation and direct filing regarding Spire. Next, an application was denied for rehearing from Missouri-American Water, which Chairman Hall said could still be appealed. The last new order, a Report and Order regarding Melody Sue Moss, was approved 5-0.
The Commission also continued discussion on the Low-Income Pilot Program from the Empire Electric Company.
The PSC will meet next on August 3 at 1:00 p.m.
Rachael Herndon was the editor at The Missouri Times and also produced This Week in Missouri Politics, published Missouri Times Magazine, and co-hosted the #MoLeg podcast. She joined The Missouri Times in 2014, returning to political reporting after working as a campaign and legislative staffer.
Rachael studied at the University of Missouri – Columbia. She lives in Jefferson City with her husband, Brandon, and their two children.
