MISSOURI UTILITIES Overcharge Ratepayers
Missouri utilities consistently seek higher rates than regulators approve, yet they are still allowed to recover additional costs between rate cases, leading to even higher costs. The Public Service Commission has found that these add-ons often lead to overcharges, forcing the utilities to refund millions to customers.
For example, in 2022, regulators found evidence that Evergy Missouri Metro and Evergy Missouri West did not act with prudence and in the best interest of ratepayers, and the utility was required to return $752,621 plus interest to ratepayers. In 2023, Evergy Missouri Metro was flagged again with a recommendation to return more than $12 million, plus interest, to customers.
Profits and Bonuses for Them, Customer Shutoffs for You
Ameren’s profits and executive pay continue to rise, even as it asks for higher rates while a record number of customers face service shutoffs.
From January to September 2024, the utility earned a net income of $975 million and distributed $535 million in shareholder dividends.
Meanwhile, Ameren’s top executives were “compensated lavishly,”1 with their CEO and CFO receiving over $19.1 million.
A tiny fraction of the profits shareholders received could have prevented all of the customer shutoffs in Missouri. Instead, customers were left in the dark while the company raked in record profits. Demand accountability.
Utility Math Not Adding Up
When does it mathematically make sense to retire an existing power plant, charge ratepayers to do so, and then turn around and charge those same ratepayers to build a new plant?
Rather than comply with a court order to install scrubbers at its Rush Island coal plant, Ameren filed to retire the facility early, seeking to recoup its $475 million investment. While Ameren frames this as a way to save customers money, ratepayers are forced to pay for the plant’s early retirement and will pay again for Ameren to build a replacement, plus its profit margin. That’s some fuzzy math if you ask us.
Scales of Power Shift Further at Your Expense
- In Georgia and South Carolina, two nuclear energy projects, Vogtle (GA) and V.C. Summer (SC), have faced massive cost overruns and delays, with ratepayers footing billions for unfinished or significantly altered plants.
- In Indiana, the utility’s proposed $1.9 billion coal-to-gas conversion plant (Edwardsport) ended up costing $3.5 billion.
There are dozens of examples where utilities underestimate project costs to gain approval, then force ratepayers to overpay once the project is underway. This pattern of overruns results in a continuous cycle of rising costs that utilities foist upon customers.