Senate Substitute # 2 for Senate Bill 4 (SB4) strips away current consumer protections and stacks the deck in favor of monopoly investor-owned utility companies and their stockholders. Please contact members of the House Utilities Committee immediately to share your opposition to this bill.

Consumers Council of Missouri (CCM) condemns the 22-11 passage of Senate Substitute #2 for Senate Bill 4 (SB4) on Monday, February 24, as out of touch with the high energy burden already being experienced by many utility customers. According to calculations from utility rate experts, SB 4 will add more than $1,115 per year in utility rate increases to Missouri households captive to monopoly companies.

“Energy burden in Missouri disproportionally affects people who are Black and Brown and people who have low income,” said CCM executive director Sandra Padgett. “The Senate’s approval of SB 4 is not only shocking but also endangers the health of Missourians who are struggling to make ends meet.”

(Note: For more on “energy burden in Missouri”, go to THIS LINK.)

SB 4 contains multiple provisions that advantage monopoly investor-owned utility companies at the expense of rate payers. Among these dangerous policy changes are:

• Construction Work in Progress (CWIP), forcing Missourians to pay for utility facilities while they are being built, an idea that we voted down 2-1 in 1976;
• Future Test Year, a change that would base water and gas bills on utility company guesses about future expenditures, rather than actual, audited costs. 
• Plant-in-Service Accounting (PISA), which tracks only selected increasing costs, while ignoring favorable changes in other costs and revenue growth between test years, factors that could lower our rates.

CCM and a diverse set of opponents of SB 4 now turn their attention toward stopping this legislation on the House side of the Capitol Building. Jeanette Mott Oxford, Board president of CCM, said, “Utility customers need to join us in closely monitoring the House debate on SB 4. There has been a blurring of ethical guidelines expected around a 133-page complicated bill that would have such far-reaching consequences on household budgets.”

Oxford cited the following as examples of ethical concerns:

• Historically the Missouri Public Service Commission (PSC) has remained neutral on utility reform legislation, but PSC Chair Kayla Hahn is actively lobbying for CWIP and other parts of this legislation; and
• Contradictory information has been shared with legislators on important issues like whether nuclear plants are covered by the CWIP language. SB sponsor Sen. Mike Cierpiot (R-Lee’s Summit) says that CWIP will only be used for gas-powered plants. Sen. Tracy McCreery (D-Olivette) says, however, that the Integrated Resource Planning part of SB4 does allow CWIP for nuclear plants.

Media Advisory from Consumers Council of MO
November 11, 2024
News Media Contact:
Sandra Padgett: spadgett@moconsumers.org

On November 12th, the Missouri Public Service Commission will hold a local public hearing at University of Missouri-St Louis (“UMSL”) to receive customer comments in a rate increase case filed by Missouri-American Water Company (“MAWC”).

This case includes a +40% rate increase for residential customers.

Hearing Details:

·      When? 6:00 pm on Tuesday, November 12th at UMSL, Millennium Student Center, Century Room C, 17 Arnold B. Grobman Dr.

·      A public information/question and answer session will begin at 6:00 pm followed by the Commission receiving testimony from the public.

·      Members of the public are advised to wait until the Q & A session is completed before providing testimony on their personal experience regarding the affordability of MAWC water rates and the proposed rate increase.

Consumers Council held a celebratory fundraiser, panel discussion, and award ceremony on November 13, 2022 at the Ethical Society of St Louis.

The Alberta Slavin Award was presented to two individuals who have shown a distinctive commitment to protecting the interests of consumers: Jay Hardenbrook, Missouri AARP Advocacy Director and Chaplain Will Jordan, J.D., Executive Director of the Metropolitan St Louis Equal Housing Opportunity Council (“EHOC”).

The Community Engagement Award was presented to the St Louis Equal Housing and Community Reinvestment Alliance. Susan Glassman accepted the Director’s Award, given posthumously to the late Consumers Council Board member Betty “Renee” Marver. The Volunteer Award was presented to Brenda Haalboom.

The event featured a panel discussion moderated by Sarah Fenske Executive Editor at Euclid Media Group and Former Host of St. Louis Public Radio’s “St Louis On the Air.” Dr. Ed Weisbart, John Coffman, and Jackie Hutchinson gave updates on consumer issues regarding healthcare, utilities, and personal finance.

Jay Hardenbrook Accepting the Alberta Slavin Award

Will Jordan, Alberta Slavin Awardee, with Sandy Padgett and Jackie Hutchinson

Panel Discussion, John Coffman, Jackie Hutchinson, and Dr. Ed Weisbart, hosted by Sarah Fenske

Consumers Council thanks the following contributors for their generous gifts in sponsoring this event.

Consumer Champions

Justine Petersen

Saint Louis Bank

Commerce Bank

Simmons Bank

Consumer Protection Leaders

Enterprise Bank & Trust

FCB Banks

Khalilah and Sam Charrington

Energy Care

Dr. Ed Weisbart

For immediate release                                                  Contact: Andrew Linhares, Renew Missouri

March 15, 2022                                                             andrew@renewmo.org, (314) 471-9973

ADVOCATES PUSHED BACK AGAINST AMEREN MISSOURI’S RATE INCREASE TO SECURE EXPANSIONS OF LOW-INCOME PROGRAMS, OTHER PRIORITIES

St. Louis, MO – Two recent orders from the Missouri Public Service Commission helped mitigate the impact of Ameren Missouri’s recent rate increase for struggling families. Ameren Missouri, the state’s largest electric utility, filed for a $299 million rate increase that would have added $12 per month to the average electric bill. A coalition of consumer groups and energy efficiency advocates pushed back against the rate increase, lowering it to $220 million and securing a collective set of priorities that will help the most vulnerable families who have experienced severe utility debt and disconnections as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As a result of a settlement, Ameren Missouri must expand its “Keeping Current” program, which helps lower-income families reduce their utility debt and maintain service, doubling its budget from $2 million to $4 million per year, with Ameren’s shareholders contributing half. Ameren must also add May and September and expand program eligibility to 300% of the Federal Poverty level to reflect greater demand for utility assistance. Additionally, despite large commercial/industrial customers’ stance that residential customers should pay a larger share, the PSC determined that the rate increase will be apportioned equally.

Jackie Hutchinson with the Consumers Council of Missouri was one of the advocates pushing for expansions to the Keeping Current program, along with other priorities. Hutchinson stated: “This increase in Keeping Current/Keeping Cool Funding helps us protect the health and safety of our most vulnerable residents, those over 65 living on limited fixed incomes and low-income families with children 5 and under. It also expands our ability to serve families with higher income who struggle to pay due to high energy burdens.”

The settlement also commits Ameren to: 1) launching a new “Critical Needs” pilot program to deliver focused assistance to individuals living with certain medical conditions; 2) launching a rehousing pilot program which will use existing bill assistance resources in order to rehouse individuals and families and return their utility service; 3) reducing late fees to 1% per month; 4) maintaining the monthly residential customer charge at $9, rather than a proposed increase; and 5) collecting and sharing aggregated customer usage data with stakeholders for use in a study on energy burdens across Ameren’s territory.

This settlement and the community support it now includes are the direct result of the collaboration of Missouri community advocates, which included: the Missouri Energy Efficiency for All coalition, Consumers Council of Missouri, Legal Services of Eastern Missouri, Homes for All St. Louis, and others. The group’s demands were voiced at local public hearings and in written public comments submitted by renters and advocates who insisted that their pandemic hardships be met with equitable solutions. For more information about how customers can seek assistance through the Keeping Current program and other opportunities, please refer to the Utility Resource Guide below.

(see “Missouri Utility Assistance Guide”)

SLEHCRA, The Woodstock Institute and NCRC Oppose First Mid and Jefferson Banks’ Merger Application

Peter Wayne Goode Jr. (August 20, 1937 – October 3, 2020) was born in St. Louis and attended the University of Missouri in Columbia and earning a degree in finance and banking. He was a former officer of the United States Army Reserve. Goode was elected to the Missouri House of Representatives for district 33 in 1962 and was a Democrat. He served until 1984, when he was elected to the Missouri State Senate. he served in the senate until 2005. Senator Goode is best know as the founder of the University of Missouri–Saint Louis, however he served the community in many other capacities. In 2006, he became a founding board member of the new Consumers Council of Missouri, building on its foundation, laid in 1971, to educate consumers statewide and advocate for their collective interests.  

Our deepest sympathy  goes out to his family. He will be greatly missed by our board and the entire community.

Wayne Goode: father of UMSL, longtime state legislator dies