JEFFERSON CITY – The Consumers Council of Missouri says a bill (SB 745) is on the governor’s desk which would allow electric utilities to use Plant-In Service-Accounting (“PISA”) through 2033.
According to a news release from the Consumers Council, PISA grants additional compensation to electric utilities by allowing them to defer for future recovery 85 percent of their depreciation expenses and returns from plants and equipment placed in service between rate cases heard by the MO Public Service Commission (“PSC).
PISA is controversial; no other state allows such extra rate increases.
These extra increases are on top of the normal rates that electric utilities are allowed to charge captive consumers.
SB 745 will hurt residential consumers, who are already facing inflationary energy cost pressures, in several ways:
- SB 745 will add two more electric rate increases of 10 percent or more over the following ten years.
- SB 745 allows much greater discounts (up to 35 percent for electric utilities) for large industrial businesses and companies that are moving into a utility’s service area. These steep discounts will be subsidized by households and small businesses.
- SB 745 allows a property tax supplement for electric (and natural gas) utilities that will also likely increase consumer energy bills.
The Staff of the PSC and the Office of Public Counsel have calculated that SB 745 will result in an extra 10-15 percent electric rate increase for residential consumers every four years.
The Consumers Union urges Missourians to contact Governor Parson and ask him to veto S.B. 745. https://governor.mo.gov/contact-us