subscribesubscriber servicescontact usabout ussite map
Tue, Nov 24 2009 

Resources

print this story   Print this story
email this story   E-mail this story
  Post to del.icio.us

Photos


Globe/Roger Nomer Mike Hurlbert, operations assistant, monitors plant operations Thursday at Empire District Electric Co.’s Asbury Power Plant. The utility has filed for a rate increase to pay for the cost of investments in additional power plants. The company says the increase being sought would cost an average customer about $19 per month.

Published October 29, 2009 11:19 pm - Empire District Electric Co. is requesting a 19.6 percent rate increase, the company announced Thursday. If the full request is approved, the average residential customer would see a monthly increase in the utility bill of about $19.21, assuming usage of 1,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity, the company said in a statement released after it had filed the request with the Missouri Public Service Commission.

Empire seeks nearly 20 percent rate hike



By Derek Spellman

dspellman@joplinglobe.com

Empire District Electric Co. is requesting a 19.6 percent rate increase, the company announced Thursday.

If the full request is approved, the average residential customer would see a monthly increase in the utility bill of about $19.21, assuming usage of 1,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity, the company said in a statement released after it had filed the request with the Missouri Public Service Commission.

Plant investments

Bill Gipson, Empire president and CEO, said the company is seeking the increase largely to recoup its share of the investment it has made in the construction of two new coal-fired generating units — one near Kansas City and one near Osceola, Ark. — that it jointly owns with other companies. The rate increase also would help the company recoup its share of the cost of environmental upgrades to a coal-fired unit near Kansas City that it also jointly owns, and absorb the operation costs that will accompany the three units.

“This case has been a long time coming,” Gipson told the Globe on Thursday, saying plans for the three projects started years earlier.

The upgrades to the one unit were completed earlier this year. Construction of the other two units is expected to be complete next summer.

Empire’s investment in the three projects is to total between $366 million and $378 million, according to a presentation from company officials.

If the request is approved by the Public Service Commission, the new rates would not become effective until the fall of 2010.

“I don’t see it any earlier than September of next year,” Gipson said.

Company officials said Empire began considering the plans years earlier, knowing that an agreement it had to purchase power from another coal-fired operation in Kansas was to expire in May 2010. That agreement could not be renewed because that plant would no longer have the capacity to continue supplying Empire, forcing the latter to find another source, Gipson said.

The construction of the new coal-fired units, in which Empire has a minority ownership, offered the “least-cost alternative” to absorb that power shortfall and continue meeting demand, Gipson said. The company also sought to avoid natural gas-fired generating units that he said would be more costly for customers in terms of providing power.

“It’s our obligation to do this and to find the least-cost alternative,” he said, noting that the company also had explored partnerships with other companies.

“There were a number of opportunities, but these two came to fruition.”



print this story    email this story    comment on this story   

Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.


Add a comment on this story







autoconx
Premier Guide
Find a business

Walking Fingers
Maps, Menus, Store hours, Coupons, and more...
Premier Guide

Announcements


Click here to VOTE!!

Click here!!

: Special Offer For New Subscribers : 32 buy 1 get 1 free offers

Click Here!


Featured Transportation

CHRYSLER 1998 TOWN AND COUNTRY
$1775
loaded, front/rear heat and air. 437-4424.
...>MORE

2005 SUZUKI TWIN PEAKS 700,
4x4, Vtwin, automatic, $5,000/offer 417-451-8860....>MORE

SUBARU, 1994 IMPREZA,
great mpg, runs excellent, needs paint, $1200. 434-8591....>MORE

See all ads

Featured Homes

Deerfield Estates
in Carl Junction, prime building sites, reduced $10,000 each. 417-825-0052...>MORE

See all ads

Other Cool Stuff

SHIHZORKIEPOO PUPS
(2) 8 week old female Shihzorkiepoo pups. mom is Imperial Shih-Ttzu, dad is a Yorkiepoo. 1st shots and dewormer. paperwo...>MORE

SHIH-TZU/LHASA,
female, 6 months, all shots, $75. (417)776-8215....>MORE

CHIEFS TICKETS
KANSAS CITY CHIEFS TICKETS FOR SALE. 417-438-8988....>MORE

ENGLISH BULLDOG PUPS, AKC

Champion bloodlines. Family raised. Would make great Christmas presents. Ready to go now! $800-$1000.
417-52
...>MORE

DIAMOND SOLITAIRE
Pear-shaped, one carat, diamond solitaire in gold setting. $2,000. Please call 417-825-3238...>MORE

STORY & CLARK PIANO,
lots of sheet music and books, $500 or best offer. (417)649-6174, (417)438-9432...>MORE

2007 CUB CADET LT1050,
leaf bagger, 50” deck, $1150/best offer (417)451-8860....>MORE

MAHOGANY DROPLEAF TABLE
Duncan Phife mahogany dropleaf table and 4 chairs, great condition, $400 or offer. (417)782-2565, (417)782-2771...>MORE

See all ads


 

Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc.CNHI Classified Advertising NetworkCNHI News Service
Associated Press content © 2009. All rights reserved. AP content may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Our site is powered by Zope and our Internet Yellow Pages site is powered by PremierGuide.
Some parts of our site may require you to download the Flash Player Plugin.
View our Privacy Policy
Advertiser index

 

 

The Joplin Globe Electronic Edition