Consumers Council of Missouri

Whatever happens with the merger — and it should be denied — Mr. Davis should play no further role in hearings or votes on the case. The apparent conflict of interest is too great. If Mr. Davis wants to work for Missouri’s utilities instead of being an honest broker for the people, let him resign and get his paycheck from a utility company, not the taxpayers. 

Excerpt from an editorial of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.  For the full editorial, click here. 

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Consumers Council Says PSC Chair Davis Should Recuse Himself To Avoid Appearance Of Impropriety 

ST. LOUIS – Alberta Slavin, president of the Consumers Council of Missouri, today called on the chairman of the Missouri Public Service Commission, Jeff Davis, to recuse himself from any further hearings and voting on the proposed merger by KCP&L and Aquila.

Slavin said Davis must recuse himself to avoid the appearance that consumers’ interests were marginalized when he met secretly with Aquila executives, and they inferred Davis’

support for the proposed merger months before the proposal was brought before the PSC.  If the merger is approved by the PSC, it could cost Aquila customers $80 million in higher utility rates.

For the full  news release, click davisrecuse.pdf. 

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Top utilities regulator under fire again, defends himself

By Michael D. Sorkin

An excerpt from an article in the ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

Missouri’s top utilities regulator privately promised support to a power company 10 months ago for a high-stakes merger only now being publicly considered, according to a once-confidential e-mail that left him scrambling Tuesday to defend himself.

It’s the second time that the conduct of Jeff Davis, chairman of the state Public Service Commission, has been called into question after private meetings with utility company executives.

For the full article, click here. 

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Today Aquila, Inc. CEO Richard Green will face cross-examination questions regarding an email he sent to the electric utility’s board of directors.  The email, revealed yesterday in a Public Service Commission merger proceeding, details positive feedback that Chairman Jeff Davis gave prior to the filing of a request for KCPL’s acquisition of Aquila.

The following is an except of an article written by Michael Sorkin

ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

Chairman Jeff Davis of the Missouri Public Service Commission is on the hot seat today, following release of a confidential e-mail that claims he privately agreed to quickly approve the merger of two power companies that would cost their customers millions of dollars in higher rates.

The merger involves Kansas City Power and Light Co., the state’s second largest power company, and Aquila Inc., an electric company in western Missouri that has been compared to Enron after financial scandals left it bleeding red ink.

For the full article, click here. 

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