Office of Public Council files appeal
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – In one of the shortest agenda meetings of the year, the Missouri Public Service Commission (PSC) denied a request from the Office of Public Council (OPC) for a rehearing on a recently approved Infrastructure System Replacement Charge (ISRS) based on a procedural issue. OPC has now appealed the case.
Just last month, Missouri-American Water’s request to change its Infrastructure System Replacement Surcharge and Tariff Revision was approved. The PSC approved a request filed by the Missouri-American Water Company to adjust the infrastructure system replacement surcharge (ISRS) on the bills of its St. Louis County customers. Missouri-American first established an ISRS on customer bills in December 2003.
Missouri-American sought the ISRS change to reflect infrastructure replacement investments made by the water company since October 2014.
The infrastructure system replacements for which Missouri-American sought ISRS recognition are for: 1) mains and associated valves and hydrants installed as replacements for existing facilities that have worn out or were in a deteriorated condition; or 2) a main cleaning and/or relining project; or 3) infrastructure facility relocations due to construction or improvements of a highway, road, street, public way or other public work required by or on behalf of the United States, the State of Missouri, a political subdivision of the State of Missouri, or another entity having the power of eminent domain.
Residential customers in the company’s St. Louis County service area currently pay an ISRS of approximately 53.25 cents per Ccf (per hundred cubic feet) or approximately 7.1 cents per 100 gallons of water used. Under the change, residential customers will pay 57.19 cents per Ccf or approximately 7.6 cents per 100 gallons of water used.
The ISRS has since taken effect in the charter county, but OPC contests the decision due to St. Louis County no longer having a population of more than 1 million.
“COMES NOW the Office of the Public Counsel (Public Counsel), pursuant to § 386.500 and 4 CSR 240-2.160, and hereby requests that the Commission rehear this case because the Commission’s findings and conclusions are unlawful and unreasonable,” reads the filing. “The order is unlawful in that statutory authority for the order does not exist. The order is unreasonable in that it is unsupported by substantial and competent evidence considering the whole record and constitutes an abuse of the Commission’s discretion.”
The law in question was passed by the legislature before the 2010 census, when St. Louis County was the only charter county with more than 1 million residents. St. Charles County is the only charter county in Missouri and fell just short of 1 million residents in 2010. Population is the only prerequisite in current law for such an ISRS to exist.
OPC challenged the PSC’s findings and conclusions issued in its June 17, 2015 Report and Order issued in Case Number W0-20 15-0211 approving the proposed tariff intended to increase the Infrastructure System Replacement Surcharge (ISRS) for the St. Louis County customers of Missouri-American Water Company due to Missouri-American Water’s request for relief in this case exceeding the scope of the Commission’s authority and said the ISRS request must be denied.
Previously, Staff made a substantive argument against the ISRS Missouri-American requested, questioning the amount that the water company asked for. Because the PSC made a ruling, the Staff cannot appeal, but OPC also reiterated their argument in their request for rehearing.
OPC is a regular party to PSC cases, and was created in 1975 to represent the public and the interests of utility customers in PSC proceedings. The Office of the Public Counsel is independent from the PSC and has a separate budget and staff.
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.
