Area municipalities say they’ll be passing on rate hikes to electric customers on April 1, but are seeking legal counsel and enlisting the aid of the legislators in Jefferson City and the Missouri Public Service Commission.
At Salem, aldermen have decided they must increase power rates or face budget cuts. The Dent County community estimates – with the rate increase – total electrical costs from Sho-Me Power Corp. will total about $4.51 million. In the last fiscal year, electrical receipts totaled $4.18 million. Salem is studying a 30 percent rate increase.
Sho-Me Power Corp., the wholesaler for 17 area municipalities, including Houston, announced earlier it would raise its rates effective April 1. That has communities scrambling for solutions. Houston estimates its rates will increase about 24 percent.
At Ava, the board of aldermen has joined with Houston, Lebanon and Sullivan to hire legal counsel to tackle the issue. The Columbia firm of Stewart & Keevil is engaged in studying issues related to the power hike. The firm specializes in litigation related to electrical matters.
Peggy Porter, administrative director for Ava, reported last week that several Missouri legislators have asked the Missouri Public Service Commission to serve as a third-party expert and to review the new Sho-Me Power Corp. rate structure, which area towns contend is unfair and penalizes growth. The PSC has no oversight over Sho-Me because of a change in the cooperative’s charter that exempts it from regulation.
Sho-Me Power says increased power costs from its supplier are driving its rate increase.
No municipalities have representatives on the Marshfield-based cooperative’s board, but some legislators say they may move to change that. A draft of an amendment is in circulation that would require cooperatives that serve two or more municipalities to have at least two members to the governing body of regional electric cooperative. Several area legislators – including Texas County’s representatives Van Kelly and Don Wells – have been briefed on the matter.
The appointments, according to a draft given to the Houston Herald, would be made by a majority vote of the mayors of the municipalities served by the cooperative. Sho-Me Power’s current board makeup includes membership from rural electric cooperatives it serves, including Intercounty Electric Cooperative at Licking.