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PSC approves Evergy West rate increase 

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Missouri’s Public Service Commission (PSC) approved a slight rate increase for Evergy Missouri West customers in order to recover a year’s worth of under-collections. 

The commission approved Evergy’s true-up fuel adjustment clause (FAC) for March 2020-Feb. 2021, during which time Evergy reported under-collecting more than $570,000 from customers. Commission Staff signed off on Evergy’s calculations and recommended the commission allow it to collect the difference through adjusted rates over the next year. 

Commissioners approved the filing during this week’s agenda meeting. Residential customers were expected to see an increase of $1.13 per kilowatt-hour to compensate for the under-collection. 

The PSC approved a stipulation and agreement between Ameren Missouri and the Sierra Club resolving lingering concerns over Ameren’s triannual integrated resource plan (IRP) filing. The forms provide the PSC with the company’s plans for cost-effective ways to meet rising energy demand, outlining environmental impact mitigation strategies and customer programs. 

The commission disagreed with alleged deficiencies with Ameren’s greenhouse gas mitigation strategies and customer outreach but requested more work to reduce customer risk before approving the plan. The IRP was accepted and Ameren was ordered to compile data on ratepayer and stakeholder risks for the implementation of additional generation resources as part of its next IRP filing. 

The commission scheduled a series of hearings to consider an electric customer’s request to change suppliers from Empire District Electric Company to New Mac Electric Cooperative, Inc. over customer service concerns. Commission Staff urged the PSC to deny the request, stating the customer was adequately served by Empire and that revenue lost through the change would be made up by the remaining customer base. Hearings were scheduled for September-February. 

An additional hearing was scheduled to gather comments from stakeholders regarding Evergy’s rate design case, which outlines approaches for rate changes and deployments and strategies for customer engagement. Evergy requested guidance from the commission on its rate design and made changes to the proposed rate structure based on its feedback in June. The commission is accepting comments from other stakeholders through Sept. 7 and will hold a presentation covering the responses on Sept. 26. 

The next PSC agenda meeting is scheduled for Aug. 25.