JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Missouri’s Public Service Commission (PSC) approved Missouri-American Water Company’s request to purchase and operate a sewer operation in Cole County.
Missouri-American requested a certificate of convenience and necessity (CCN) to install, own, and operate a sewer system in Taos, taking over the community’s unregulated system. The city council voted to grant control of the system to Missouri-American early last year.
After a series of extensions and a recommendation from Staff, the commission voted to approve the CCN during Wednesday’s agenda meeting.
Spire Missouri filed a proposed Weather Normalization Adjustment Rider (WNAR) in March, which adjusts customer bills to account for changes in temperature over a particular period. The filing was investigated due to billing errors made between October 2020 and February 2021, putting Spire out of compliance with its own prior tariffs. Commission Staff recommended the investigation be closed after identifying the level of lost revenue, and the commission obliged. Staff and Spire are to continue working on the proposed increase.
The Empire District Electric Company requested authority to implement a $79 million increase to its gross annual electric revenues in May, hoping to see it approved by the end of June. The commission suspended the filing through April 2022 and set an initial public hearing for June 23. Parties have until the day before to submit an application to intervene.
Wisper ISP, Windstream Communications, MOLTD Broadband, and TurboNet Technologies were approved for the expansion of their designation as eligible telecommunications carriers. All four companies recently benefited from the federal Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, requiring them to extend broadband service to rural areas.
The next PSC agenda meeting is scheduled for June 9. The commission resumed in-person meetings recently after more than a year of convening remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic; commissioners dialed in for this week’s meeting as virtual attendance is still permitted for the foreseeable future.
Cameron Gerber studied journalism at Lincoln University. Prior to Lincoln, he earned an associate’s degree from State Fair Community College. Cameron is a native of Eldon, Missouri.
Contact Cameron at cameron@themissouritimes.com.
