Ameren to invest $1B in infrastructure if rate policies change

2016-11-30

 USA, Missouri: The utility company Ameren Missouri has urged for regulatory changes with the Public Service Commission (PSC), saying it could invest $1 billion in needed infrastructure improvements only if the method for setting electricity rates changes.

Ameren said it is ready to make $1 billion in investments from 2018 to 2022, including upgrades to aging, end-of-life substations and their equipment, and other necessary infrastructure improvements, reports Saint Louis Business Journal.

“While it is true that Ameren Missouri has access to the capital markets to finance these important projects, it is also true that the regulatory lag built into Missouri’s decades-old rate setting process prevents full recovery of the cost of these investments and other elements of Ameren Missouri’s costs to serve its customers,” Thomas Byrne, Ameren’s senior director of regulatory affairs, stated.

Currently under Missouri law, utilities must prove their projects are used and useful before the costs associated with them can be included in thecompanies’ rate base; however, the PSC does not see why the electric utilities are not able to prove this under the current system.

Source: Saint Louis Business Journal