PSC twice denies AmerenUE
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Missouri regulators denied AmerenUE twice on Wednesday, including a proposal for a 1.7 percent interim electric rate increase that would have been part of an 18 percent hike requested by the utility.
The Public Service Commission also rejected what was viewed as an effort by AmerenUE to muzzle a public relations blitz organized by a consumer group that opposes the proposed 18 percent rate hike.
AmerenUE, the state’s largest electric utility, last month asked the PSC to clarify rules prohibiting parties in rate cases from trying to sway the commission or its staff outside of the formal hearing process.
The utility pointed to a campaign by a group calling itself the Fair Electric Rate Action Fund but denies it was trying to silence critics. The utility insists it just wanted a clearer idea of what communication was allowed leading up to and during a rate case.
“Suppressing free speech was never an objective of this request,” AmerenUE spokesman Tim Fox said in an e-mailed statement.
The group, FERAF, characterized Ameren’s request as an attempt to institute a gag order.
“We’ve said all along that our goal is to educate Missourians about this 18 percent rate increase,” FERAF spokesman Gregg Keller said. “We’re pleased that today’s ruling is going to allow us to continue.”
FERAF’s members are Noranda, the Missouri Retailers Association, AARP, the Missouri Association for Social Welfare and the Consumer Council of Missouri, Keller said. He wouldn’t disclose how much the group has spent fighting Ameren’s rate proposal.
The group organized last year to challenge plans to repeal a state law that prohibits utilities from charging customers for power plants while they’re under construction. Ameren, which wanted the law undone so it could build a second nuclear plant, unsuccessfully sued FERAF to force the group to pull television ads.
The group re-emerged last month, using radio ads, phone calls and social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook to mount a campaign against higher rates.
FERAF’s campaign caught the attention of the PSC not just because of questions raised by Ameren.
Commissioner Kevin Gunn was among those who received an automated phone call from the group, as did an administrative assistant for Commissioner Jeff Davis.
Keller said the calls to commission members and staff were mistakes and the group makes efforts to avoid communication with PSC members.
The commission voted 3-2 to deny the temporary $37 million, or 1.7 percent, increase.
“Granting a rate increase without benefit of a full audit on questions of disputed facts sends the wrong message,” PSC Chairman Robert Clayton III said in a statement.
AmerenUE filed a request in July to raise rates by $402 million a year, or 18 percent.
As part of that request, the utility sought approval of an interim rate increase to help recover costs of certain investments while the larger rate request was being decided.
Rate cases typically take 11 months to be decided, and Ameren argued that immediate rate relief was warranted to help offset the gap between its actual costs and historical costs on which rates are set. This so-called regulatory lag has been a frequent complaint by Ameren executives.
Interim increases aren’t unprecedented. But they typically have been approved in instances where utilities face financial distress.
Fox, the AmerenUE spokesman, said the utility is disappointed by the decision after presenting “sound justification” for the temporary increase.
A decision on AmerenUE’s full rate proposal is expected by early summer.
