This week, the Missouri Supreme Court heard an appeal by Ameren Missouri (Union Electric Co.) vs. the Missouri Public Service Commission, and judges vacated the previous decision unanimously and sent the case back to the commission.
According to state Supreme Court records, the utility objected to the commission's decision the company violated a commission rule in making calculations under an energy efficiency plan approved by the commission.
The decision this week was written by Judge Paul C. Wilson on Tuesday. It stated the commission erred in interpreting the term "methodology" resulting in an erroneous determination.
The appeal document states the commission filed a complaint alleging Ameren violated the commission rule when it failed to use certain 2014 data to calculate "net shared benefits" under an energy efficiency plan approved by the commission in 2012. Ameren appealed.
The background section of the appeal states: "As a general matter, utilities such as Ameren recover their costs (plus a reasonable return on their investments) through the sale of electricity at the rates set by the Commission. As a result, Ameren has little or no incentive to encourage energy efficient practices by its customers because, again generally, the more electricity Ameren sells the more money it makes. To remove this disincentive and encourage utilities to develop and implement programs encouraging energy efficient practices by its customers, the legislature enacted the Missouri Energy Efficiency Investment Act."
In January 2012, Ameren submitted to the Commission it's proposed 2013-15 Energy Efficiency Plan covering the energy-efficiency measures it would implement during this period and the terms under which it would be compensated for those measures. Following a stipulation between Ameren and others modifying some of the plan's terms, the commission approved the plan in August 2012.
The document went on to describe the argument as "dauntingly complex."
"It is not without some trepidation that the Court forays into the complex subjects at issue in this case. But buried beneath the blizzard of acronyms and torrents of Opinion issued July 3, 2018 technicalities lies a simple issue well within the competency of this court to determine, i.e., the meaning of the term "methodology" as used in Rule 20.093(1)(F). The commission determined "methodology" in this context means not only the formula used to compute a sum (i.e., the variables to be used) but also the values of those variables. This was error. Accordingly, because the commission's erroneous determination of the meaning of the term "methodology" played a central role in its decision, that decision is vacated, and this matter is remanded to the commission for further proceedings consistent with this opinion."
The appeal document may be read online at courts.mo.gov/file.jsp?id=127316.
Ameren Missouri (Union Electric Co.) serves parts of Callaway County and operates a nuclear power plant within county borders.