Missouri SB 1712: SB 1712 - The act provides that any public hearing held by the Public Service Commission for the receipt of evidentiary testimony from members of the public for purposes of a general rate proceeding shall be subject to certain requirements described in the act. All ratemaking determinations by the Commission shall be just and reasonable, as defined in the act, and shall be based on a finding that any utility rate change will not be unduly burdensome to the current affordability of utility services to customers. JULIA SHEVELEVA

Bill Text

SECOND REGULAR SESSION
SENATE BILL NO. 1712
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY SENATOR MCCREERY.
7274S.03I KRISTINA MARTIN, Secretary
AN ACT
To amend chapter 386, RSMo, by adding thereto two new sections relating to the regulation of
public utilities.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Chapter 386, RSMo, is amended by adding thereto 1
two new sections, to be known as sections 386.381 and 386.620, 2
to read as follows:3
386.381. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to 1
the contrary, all ratemaking determinations by the 2
commission shall be just and reasonable and shall also be 3
based upon a finding that any change in a utility rate will 4
not be unduly burdensome to the current affordability of 5
utility services to customers. For purposes of this 6
section, "just and reasonable", as it relates to a utility 7
rate or charge, shall mean that the rate or charge shall 8
result in the lowest possible ratepayer impact that is 9
necessary for the utility to provide safe and adequate 10
service. 11
386.620. 1. For purposes of this section, the 1
following terms mean: 2
(1) "Commission", the Missouri public service 3
commission; 4
(2) "Public utility", the same as defined in section 5
386.020. 6

SB 1712 2
2. Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter to 7
the contrary, any public hearing by the commission held for 8
the receipt of evidentiary testimony from members of the 9
public for purposes of a general rate proceeding shall be 10
subject to the following requirements: 11
(1) At least one local public hearing shall be 12
reasonably close to the residence of each utility customer 13
located within the geographical area served by the public 14
utility proposing a rate increase in the general rate 15
proceeding; 16
(2) Notice of the local public hearing shall be mailed 17
to the physical address of every utility customer under 18
subdivision (1) of this subsection by first class mail and 19
shall be mailed at least fourteen days prior to the hearing; 20
(3) Any affected ratepayer from the proposed rate 21
increase in the general rate proceeding may testify at the 22
public hearing and may file statements regarding the subject 23
matter of the hearing with the person or persons conducting 24
the hearing; 25
(4) Any testimony or filed statements shall become 26
part of the commission's evidentiary record during the 27
general rate proceeding under this section; 28
(5) The commission shall give each member of the 29
public a reasonable amount of time to testify before the 30
commission during the public hearing; and 31
(6) In the general rate proceeding, the final order of 32
the commission shall include findings that describe how the 33
commission's decision was impacted by the testimony and 34
comments received from members of the public during the 35
public hearing. 36
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