From staff reports

news@joplinglobe.com

Joplin-area residents will have a chance to comment this week on Empire District Electric Co.’s request for a rate increase that would raise the company’s Missouri revenues by $34.7 million.

The public hearings are slated for 5:30 p.m. Tuesday and 11:30 a.m. Wednesday at Webster Hall at Missouri Southern State University in Joplin.

The hearings, being conducted by the Missouri Public Service Commission, will begin with an informal question-and-answer session. PSC staff members will provide some basic information on the rate request and answer questions from the public.

The official public hearing will begin 30 minutes into the meeting. Members of the public who sign in may make statements on the record, recorded by a court reporter to be included in the PSC’s formal evidentiary hearings scheduled for mid-May.

Empire filed for the rate increase last October, seeking to increase its annual revenues by more than 10 percent. Empire estimated that the increase, if granted, would raise the monthly bill of an average residential customer — using 1,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity a month — by $9.75.

Empire estimates that the new rates would go into effect this fall if they are approved.

Empire cited increased growth in the number of customers and demand per customer in justifying its request. In a written statement at the time the request was filed, Empire said the company has done $135 million in additions and reconstruction work associated with the new 150-megawatt generator at the Riverton (Kan.) Power Plant, a catalytic reduction system at the Asbury Power Plant and rebounding from the January 2007 ice storm.

Along with requesting a rate increase, Empire is asking the PSC to approve a fuel adjustment clause that would allow Empire’s rates to fluctuate based on how much it costs for the company to buy fuel.

Empire and three other investor-owned utility companies in Missouri are currently under investigation by the PSC regarding their preparation for and response to the December 2007 ice storm that left 65,000 Empire customers without power, some for more than a week.

PSC staff members visited the corporate headquarters of Empire, Ameren, Aquila and Kansas City Power & Light to examine such issues as vegetation management, call-center operations, Web-site operations, crew dispatching and media relations.

Empire has never been a part of this type of investigation, even after the January 2007 ice storm. The PSC staff said the geographic scope and the length of time people were without power after the December ice storm prompted the investigation. An initial report is to be filed with the commission no later than April 3.