Perfected

TANGIBLE PERSONAL PROPERTY (Sections 137.010, 137.080, 137.115)

The act modifies the definition of "tangible personal property" and adds solar panels and related solar equipment that were constructed and producing solar energy before August 9, 2022 to the subclasses of taxable tangible personal property.

These provisions are identical to SB 1219 (2024).

TAX ASSESSMENT OF STATIONARY PROPERTY (Section 137.122)

Under the act, the estimation of value of depreciable tangible personal property may be disproved by a taxpayer.

Beginning January 1, 2025, provisions relating to depreciable tangible personal property shall apply to all real property that is stationary and used for transportation or storage of liquid and gaseous products, including water, sewage, and certain natural gas.

To estimate the value of the real property under the act, each assessor shall value such property by applying a 20-year recovery period to the original cost of the property according to the 20-year depreciation schedule. The presumption as to the proper method of determining the assessed value of such property shall apply regardless of when such property was placed in service.

Each taxpayer owning property under the act shall provide to an assessor, on or before May 1st of the applicable tax year, the original cost and year placed in service of such property, as described in the act.

These provisions are identical to a provision in SB 896 (2024) and HB 2110 (2024).

SALES TAX EXEMPTIONS FOR UTILITIES (Section 144.058)

Sales tax exemptions under the act shall apply to any public utility or any rural electric cooperative, and certain other utilities and related utility equipment, as described in the act. Any public utility that realizes any savings from the sales tax exemption shall provide the Public Service Commission information on the amount of savings realized in such public utility's next general rate proceeding, as described in the act. Savings realized shall be calculated as the difference between sales tax incurred and sales tax expense included in current rates.

This provision is identical to a provision in the perfected SS#2/SB 872 (2024), a provision in SB 896 (2024), SB 300 (2023), and substantially similar to SB 1129 (2024).

COMMON SEWER DISTRICTS (Sections 204.300, 204.610)

The act repeals certain provisions and creates new provisions relating to the trustees of certain common sewer districts.

Certain trustees may receive an attendance fee not to exceed $100 for attending each regularly called board meeting, or special meeting, but shall not be paid for attending more than 2 meetings in any calendar month, except that in a county of first classification a trustee shall not be paid for attending more than 4 meetings in any calendar month. No trustee shall be paid more than 1 attendance fee if such trustee attends more than one board meeting in a calendar week. Each trustee of the board shall be reimbursed for his or her actual expenditures in the performance of his or her duties. The act repeals the provision that the compensation schedule shall be approved by resolution of the board of trustees.

The trustees of a district with an 11-member board and located in 2 counties shall receive no compensation for their services.

These provisions are substantially similar to provisions in SCS/SB 740 (2024), provisions in SB 896 (2024), provisions in HB 2476 (2024).

RENEWABLE NATURAL GAS PROGRAM (Section 386.895)

Under the act, no later than July 1, 2025, the Public Service Commission shall adopt rules permitting gas corporations to voluntarily institute a renewable natural gas program. The rules shall be limited to establishing a process for gas corporations to submit filings pursuant to the renewable natural gas program. The act repeals the provision giving the Commission general rule-making authority relating to the renewable natural gas program.

A qualified investment shall be deemed prudent for any gas corporation when the aggregate of such qualified investment does not exceed certain parameters described in the act. A filing by a gas corporation under the renewable natural gas program shall include a timeline for the investment and completion of the proposed renewable natural gas infrastructure.

For any filing made by a gas corporation for a project with an aggregate cost of less than 5 million dollars, the Commission shall issue a decision within 90 days of submission. For any such filing, the Commission may exercise the right to extend the review period for 30 additional days for good cause. The Commission shall not extend the review period more than twice for a total of 60 additional days.

On or before January 1, 2026, instead of January 1, 2023, the Division of Energy shall provide a report of the renewable natural gas program to certain governmental bodies as described in the act.

This provision is substantially similar to SCS/SB 829 (2024), and similar to HB 2193 (2024).

ACQUISITION OF SMALL WATER UTILITIES (Sections 393.320)

The Public Service Commission shall issue a decision relating to any acquisition of a small water utility by a large water public utility with an appraised value of 5 million dollars or less within 6 months from the submission of the application for such acquisition by the large public water utility.

Prior to the expiration of the 6-months period, the Commission staff or the Office of Public Counsel may request an extension for approval of the application for an additional 30 days from the Commission, upon a showing of good cause. This provision also modifies the definition of "large water public utility".

This provision is substantially similar to provisions in SCS/SB 740 (2024), provisions in SCS/SB 741 (2024), provisions in SB 896 (2024).

RENEWABLE ENERGY STANDARD (Section 393.1030)

Energy meeting the criteria of the renewable energy portfolio requirements under the act that is generated from renewable energy resources and contracted for by an accelerated renewable buyer, as defined in the act, shall be subject to certain requirements described in the act. The accelerated renewable buyer shall be exempt from any renewable energy standard compliance costs as may be established by the utility and approved by the Public Service Commission as described in the act.

Each electric utility shall certify and verify to the Commission that the accelerated renewable buyer has satisfied the exemption requirements under the act for each year, or an accelerated renewable buyer may choose to certify satisfaction of this exemption by reporting to the Commission individually. Nothing in this provision shall be construed as imposing or authorizing the imposition of any reporting, regulatory or financial burden on an accelerated renewable buyer.

These provisions apply to electric utilities with more than 250,000 but less than 1 million retail customers in the state as of the end of the calendar year 2022.

This provision is identical to a provision in SB 896 (2024), and substantially similar to a provision in SCS/SB 740 (2024) and SB 838 (2024).

DEFERRALS BY ELECTRICAL CORPORATIONS (Section 393.1400)

The act modifies certain provisions relating to deferrals by electrical corporations.

The act removes "new natural gas units" from the definition of "qualifying electric plant".

Electrical corporations shall defer to a regulatory asset 85% of all depreciation expense and return associated with all qualifying electric plant recorded to plant-in-service on the utility's books through August 27, 2024. The act repeals certain deadlines relating to such deferrals.

Beginning August 28, 2024, an electrical corporations shall defer to a regulatory asset 85% of all depreciation expense and return as described in the act, except for a qualifying electric plant that consists of investment in new generating units for which the deferral shall be 90%.

The act excludes the cost of investments in new generating units and energy storage systems from the requirement that at least 25% of the cost of investments reflected in each year's capital investment plan shall be comprised of grid modernization projects.

The act extends the sunset date of certain provisions relating to deferrals by electrical corporations from December 31, 2028 to December 31, 2035. The deadline to file an application seeking permission from the Public Service Commission relating to deferrals shall be extended from December 31, 2026 to December 31, 2033.

Provisions relating to electrical corporations seeking deferrals shall expire on December 31, 2040, instead of December 31, 2033.

These provisions are identical to SCS/SB 1422 (2024), and substantially similar to HCS/HB 2541 (2024).

DISCOUNTED GAS RATES FOR GAS CORPORATION CUSTOMERS (Section 393.1645)

This act creates provisions for gas corporation customers to be considered for a discounted gas rate.

Under the act, a new or an existing gas corporation account meeting the criteria under the act shall qualify for the following discounts:

(1) When the customer is a new customer and the new load is reasonably projected to be at least 270,000 CCF annually, the discount shall equal 25% and shall apply for four years; or

(2) When the customer is an existing customer and the new load is reasonably projected to be at least 135,000 CCF annually, the discount shall equal 25% and shall apply for four years.

To obtain one of the discounts under the act, the customer's load shall be incremental, net of any offsetting load reductions due to the termination of other accounts of the customer or an affiliate of the customer within twelve months prior to the commencement of service to the new load. The customer shall receive an economic development incentive from a governmental entity, as described in the act, in conjunction with the incremental load. The customer shall meet the criteria set forth in the gas corporation's economic development rider tariff sheet, as approved by the Public Service Commission, that are not inconsistent with the act.

Unless otherwise provided by the gas corporation's tariff, the applicable discount shall be a percentage applied to all variable base-rate components of the bill. The discount shall be applied to such incremental load from the date when the meter has been permanently set until the date that such incremental load no longer meets the criteria required to qualify for the discount as determined under the act, or a maximum of four years. The gas corporation may include in its tariff additional or alternative terms and conditions to a customer's utilization of the discount, subject to approval of such terms and conditions by the Commission.

The customer, on forms supplied by the gas corporation, shall apply for the applicable discount at least 90 days prior to the date the customer requests that the incremental usage receive one of the discounts provided for by this act and shall enter into a written agreement with the gas corporation reflecting the discount percentages and other pertinent details prior to which no discount will be available. If the incremental usage is not separately metered, the gas corporation's determination of the incremental usage shall control. The gas corporation shall verify the customer’s consumption annually to determine continued qualification for the applicable discount. The cents-per-CCF realization resulting from application of any discounted rates as calculated shall be higher than the gas corporation’s variable cost to serve such incremental usage and the applicable discounted rate shall also make a positive contribution to fixed costs associated with service to such incremental usage. If in a subsequent general rate proceeding the Commission determines that application of a discounted rate is not adequate to cover the gas corporation’s variable cost to serve the accounts in question and provide a positive contribution to fixed costs, then the Commission shall reduce the discount for those accounts prospectively to the extent necessary to do so.

In each general rate proceeding concluded after August 28, 2024, the difference in revenues with the discounts under the act and the revenues without such discounts shall not be imputed into the gas corporation's revenue requirement. Instead, such revenue requirement shall be set as described in the act. To qualify for discounted rates, customers shall meet the applicable criteria within 24 months of initially receiving discounts based on metering data for calendar months 13-24 and annually thereafter. If such data indicates that the customer did not meet the applicable criteria for any subsequent 12-month period, the customer shall no longer qualify for a discounted rate. Customer usage existing at the time the customer makes application for a discounted rate under the act shall not constitute incremental usage. The discounted rates under the act apply only for variable base-rate components, with charges or credits arising from any rate adjustment mechanism authorized by law to be applied to customers qualifying for discounted rates under the act in the same manner as such rate adjustments would apply in absence of these provisions.

These provisions are identical to SCS/SB 740 (2024), HB 2045 (2024), SB 896 (2024), similar to SB 638 (2023) and HB 1143 (2023).

REVIEW OF FINANCING ORDERS FOR ENERGY TRANSITION COSTS (Section 393.1700)

Under the act, the Public Service Commission may directly contract counsel, financial advisors or other consultants as necessary for the purpose of reviewing financing orders for energy transition costs. This provision shall not be subject to state purchasing provisions. However, the Commission shall establish a policy for the bid process. Such policy shall be publicly available and any information related to contracts under the established policy shall be included in publicly available rate case documents.

These provisions are identical to HB 1728 (2024), a provision in SB 899 (2024), HCS/HB 1071 (2023) and similar to SB 520 (2023).

WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT INVESTMENTS BY CERTAIN UTILITIES (Section 393.1750)

Under the act, the Public Service Commission shall permit an electrical, gas, or water corporation to recover their workforce development investments.

An electrical, gas, or water corporation shall be entitled to defer to a regulatory asset such corporation's workforce development investments subject only to the cap made between the effective date of this provision and December 31, 2034. In each general rate proceeding concluded after the effective date of this provision, the regulatory asset shall be included in the revenue requirement used to set rates through an amortization over a reasonable period of time in the general rate proceeding, and in such corporation's subsequent general rate proceedings, without any offset.

Workforce development investments shall qualify for recovery for investments made through December 31, 2034, that are not in excess of 55 hundredths of one percent of the applicable electrical, gas, or water corporation’s total operating revenues as reported to the Commission for calendar year 2022.

This provision is substantially similar to HB 1622 (2024).

HYDRANT INSPECTION PROGRAM (Section 640.144)

Currently, all community water systems are required to create a hydrant inspection program which includes annual testing of every hydrant of such community water systems. This act repeals the annual testing requirement of such hydrants and provides for a scheduled testing of such hydrants.

This provision is identical to a provision in SCS/SB 740 (2024), SB 982 (2024), HB 1734 (2024), a provision in SB 896 (2024), SB 629 (2023) and HB 891 (2023).

SMALL WIRELESS FACILITY DEPLOYMENT ACT (Section 67.5122)

The act repeals a provision relating to the expiration date of the Uniform Small Wireless Facility Deployment Act.

This provision is identical to a provision in HCS/HB 1813 (2024), the perfected HB 1995 (2024), HB 2501 (2024), and HB 2549 (2024).

JULIA SHEVELEVA