SOLAR ENERGY GENERATION SYSTEMS AS TANGIBLE PERSONAL PROPERTY (Sections 137.010, 137.080, and 137.115)

This act provides that the definition of "tangible personal property" shall, for the purposes of property taxation, include solar panels, racking systems, inverters, and related solar equipment, components, materials, and supplies installed in connection with solar photovoltaic energy systems that were constructed and producing solar energy prior to August 9, 2022. (Section 137.010)

This act also creates a new subclass of tangible personal property that includes solar panels, racking systems, inverters, and related solar equipment, components, materials, and supplies installed in connection with solar photovoltaic energy systems that were constructed and producing solar energy prior to August 9, 2022, and provides that such subclass shall be assessed at five percent of its true value in money. (Sections 137.080 and 137.115)

These provisions are similar to SB 414 (2025), SB 1219 (2024) and to provisions in HCS/HB 1836 (2024).

COMPENSATION OF TRUSTEES OF COMMON SEWER DISTRICTS (Sections 204.300 and 204.610)

Trustees appointed by the governing body of certain counties may be paid reasonable compensation by the common sewer district for their services outside their duties as trustees. Monetary compensation of such trustees is described in the act. The act repeals certain provisions relating to the compensation schedule and expenses incurred by the trustees.

The trustees of a district with an eleven-member board and located in two counties shall receive no compensation for their services but may be reimbursed for expenses. Reimbursement of trustees of a ten-member board are described in the act.

Each trustee appointed or elected in the circuit court decree or amended decree of incorporation for a reorganized common sewer district may receive certain monetary compensation for their services as trustees as described in the act. The act repeals the provisions stating that such trustees shall receive no compensation for their services but may be compensated for reasonable expenses normally incurred in the performance of their duties.

These provisions are similar to provisions in SB 5 (2025), SB 896 (2024), HB 2476 (2024), HCS/SB 155 (2023), and similar to provisions in SCS/HCS/HB 1746 (2024).

ASSESSMENTS TO TELECOMMUNICATION CORPORATIONS (Section 386.370)

Under the act, the total amount assessed by the Commission to public utilities shall not exceed .45%, instead of .315% as currently provided, of the total gross intrastate operating revenues of all public utilities, except telecommunications corporations. The total amount to be assessed to all telecommunications corporations, including interconnected voice over internet protocol service providers, shall not exceed .25% of the total gross intrastate operating revenue of all telecommunications corporations and interconnected voice over internet protocol service providers.

NATURAL GAS SAFETY STANDARDS (Section 386.572)

The act repeals certain provisions relating to maximum penalties for violations of federally mandated natural gas safety standards and provides that the maximum penalties shall not exceed an amount as determined by the Secretary of Transportation of the United States.

This provision has an emergency clause.

This provision is substantially similar to SB 1470 (2024), a provision in SCS/HCS/HB 1746 (2024), HB 2660 (2024), SB 450 (2023), SB 953 (2022), SB 172 (2021) and HB 1054 (2021), SB 827 (2020), SB 169 (2019), HB 589 (2019), SB 815 (2018).

ENFORCEMENT OF COMMISSION POWERS (Section 386.600)

Under the act, an action against a public utility may be prosecuted for certain violations involving HVAC services and may be brought by the Attorney General. No filing or docket fee shall be required of the Attorney General.

This provision is similar to a provision in SB 491 (2025).

DUTIES OF THE OFFICE OF THE PUBLIC COUNSEL (Section 386.720)

Under the act, prior to the beginning of each fiscal year on or after July 1, 2026, the Public Counsel shall make an estimate of the expenses to be incurred by his or her office during such fiscal year reasonably attributable to the performance of his or her powers, duties, and functions, and shall separately estimate the amount of such expenses attributable to such duties for each group of public utilities as described in the act. Telephone and telegraph corporations shall be exempt from this provision.

The Public Counsel shall allocate to each group of public utilities the estimated expenses directly attributable to the regulation of each group of the public utilities as described in the act.

The Public Counsel shall render a statement of the assessment of each public utility on or before July 1st of each year and the amount so assessed to each public utility shall be paid by the utility to the Director of Revenue as described in the act. The total amount to be assessed shall not exceed .057%.

The State Treasurer shall credit such payment to a fund, known as "The Office of the Public Counsel Fund", or its successor fund. The Fund shall be used to pay expenditures incurred by the Public Counsel for the regulation of public utilities under the jurisdiction of the Public Service Commission. Any amount remaining in the Fund at the end of a fiscal year shall not revert to the general revenue fund, but shall be applicable by appropriation of the General Assembly to the payment of the expenditures of the Public Counsel as described in the act.

THE FAIR COMPETITION LAW (Section 386.752, 386.754, 386.756, 386.760)

The act creates the "Fair Competition Law."

The act modifies certain provisions relating to HVAC services.

Any utility that engages a utility contractor that provides HVAC services shall develop a qualification process and make the process open to all contractors seeking to provide HVAC services. Such contractors shall be able to register on the utility's vendor registration site and be evaluated for bid opportunities.

After receiving information that provisions of the Fair Competition Law have been violated by any person or entity subject to the Commission's jurisdiction, the Commission's staff shall investigate and report any findings to the Commission. If the Commission finds that a violation occurred, the Commission may open a case to abate the violation and seek penalties. Any person informing the Commission of any such violation may intervene into the proceeding before the Commission. The person and any other interested person shall be provided a copy of the final disposition of the complaint, but not the work-product or attorney client privileged documents of the Commission's staff or General Counsel or the Attorney General.

The Commission shall not adopt any rule, tariff, order, or any other action that purports to allow violations of the Fair Competition Law.

ADVANCED METERS (Section 386.820)

Under the act, the Public Service Commission shall promulgate commercially reasonable rules governing the opt-out process using an advanced or hub meter for customers no later than June 30, 2026. As of July 1, 2026, a residential utility customer may communicate with the utility that the customer would like to opt-out of using an advanced meter or hub meter.

Within a commercially reasonable time after receiving a customer's request to remove an advanced meter from the customer's residence or business, a utility shall remove the advanced meter and replace it with a traditional meter. A utility may charge a one-time fee, not to exceed $125, to remove the advanced meter and to provide a traditional meter. A utility may charge a monthly fee, not to exceed $15, for the use of a traditional meter.

If a residential customer utilizes a traditional meter and desires to read his or her own meter, the customer shall report accurate electricity usage to the utility once per a billing cycle. A utility shall provide the customer with the detailed process to report meter readings as described in the act. At least once every 12 months, the utility shall obtain an actual meter reading of the customer's energy usage to verity the accuracy of readings reported. A representative of a utility may manually read the customer's meter once per a billing cycle and correct a reading as necessary. If the customer fails to report usage, inaccurately reports usage, or the utility does not receive the customer's usage report on time, the utility may manually read the customer's meter or charge the customer based on an estimate of prior energy use. The utility may charge the customer interest on any unpaid amount. Such interest rate shall be no greater than 5%. The Commission is authorized to approve charges to be assesses pursuant to an electrical corporation's rate schedule to be assessed on customers that intentionally report inaccurate electricity usage.

A utility shall not be liable for any injuries or other damages sustained by a customer or other individuals due to a customer's reading of the customer's energy usage unless such injuries or damages are caused by the willful misconduct or gross negligence of the utility.

TIME-OF-USE RATES (Section 386.1100)

If the Public Service Commission has ordered adoption of time-of-use rates on a mandatory basis for an electrical corporation's residential customers before the affective date of this provision, then within one year from the effective date of this provision, the Commission shall issue an order to allow mandated time-of-use rate customers to opt-out of participating in time-of-use rates and elect to participate in non-time-of-use rates. The transition to opt-out of time-of-use rates may occur in a general rate case or in a standalone tariff proceeding to allow for the transition to conclude no later than one year from the effective date of this provision.

HOT WEATHER RULE FOR UTILITIES (Section 393.108)

Under the act, it shall be prohibited for utilities to disconnect electric and gas service to residential customers for nonpayment of bills between June 1st to September 30th between 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. if the National Weather Service local forecast predicts for the following seventy-two hours, instead of twenty-four hours as currently provided, that the temperature shall rise between such times above 95 degrees Fahrenheit.

COLD WEATHER RULE FOR UTILITIES (Section 393.109)

Under the act, it shall be prohibited for utilities to disconnect gas and electric service to residential customers for nonpayment of bills between November 1st to March 31st between 6 a.m. and 9 p.m. for the following seventy-two hours if the National Weather Service local forecast predicts that the temperature shall fall during such times below 32 degrees Fahrenheit.

AN ELECTRICAL CORPORATION'S SERVICE TARIFF (Section 393.130)

Under the act, an electrical corporation with more than 250,000 customers shall develop and submit to the Public Service Commission schedules to include its service tariff applicable to customers who are projected to have above an annual peak demand of 100 megawatts or more. The schedules should ensure such customers' rates will reflect a representative share of the costs incurred to serve the customers and prevent other customer classes' rates from reflecting any unjust or unreasonable costs arising from service to such customers.

Each electrical corporation with 250,000 or fewer customers as of January 1, 2025, shall develop and submit to the Commission such schedules applicable to customers who are reasonably projected to have above an annual peak demand of 50 megawatts or more. The Commission may order an electrical corporation to submit similar tariffs to reasonably ensure that rates of customers who are reasonably projected to have annual peak demands below the above-referenced levels will reflect the customer's representative share of certain costs.

AMOUNTS INCLUDED IN CONSTRUCTION WORK IN PROGRESS (Section 393.135)

The act provides that, subject to certain limitations, an electrical corporation may be permitted to include construction work in progress for any new natural gas-generating unit in rate base. The inclusion of construction work in progress shall be in lieu of any applicable allowance for funds used during construction that would have accrued after the effective date of new base rates reflecting inclusion of the construction work in progress in rate base. The Public Service Commission shall determine the amount of construction work in progress that may be included in rate base. The amount shall be limited by the estimated cost of the project and project expenditures made within the estimated construction period for such project.

Base rate recoveries arising from inclusion of construction work in progress in rate base are subject to refund, as described in the act.

These provisions shall expire on December 31, 2035, unless the Commission determines, after a hearing as described in the act, that good cause exists to extend these provisions through December 31, 2045. The secretary of the Commission shall notify the Revisor of Statutes when the conditions for the extension have been met.

This provision is identical to a provision in SCS/SB 186 (2025), and similar to a provision in SB 618 (2028), a provision in HB 92 (2025), a provision in HB 853 (2025), a provision in HB 963 (2025), a provision in SB 48 (2025), a provision in SB 214 (2025).

REDUCTION TO THE FEDERAL INCOME TAX RATES OF ELECTRICAL CORPORATIONS (Section 393.138)

If a reduction is made to the federal income tax rates of electrical corporations between January 20, 2025, and December 31, 2029, the Commission shall have one-time authority to adjust each electrical corporation's rates prospectively as described in the act. Beginning with the effective date of the federal corporate income tax reduction through the date the electrical corporation's rates are adjusted on a one-time basis, the Commission shall require electrical corporations to defer to a regulatory asset the financial impact of such federal act. The amounts deferred shall be included in the revenue requirement used to set the electrical corporation's rates.

The Commission may alternatively allow a deferral of such federal act's financial impacts to a regulatory asset starting with the effective date of the federal corporate income tax reduction through the effective date of new rates. The deferred amounts shall be included in the revenue requirement used to set the electrical corporation's rates in its subsequent general rate proceeding through an amortization over a period determined by the Commission.

TEST YEAR FOR RATE PROCEEDINGS FOR CERTAIN UTILITIES (Section 393.150)

Under the act, beginning July 1, 2026, the test year for rate proceedings, if requested by certain utilities, shall be a future year consisting of the first 12 full calendar months after the operation of law date for schedules stating new base rates filed by the utilities, unless the Public Service Commission makes a determination that using a future test year is detrimental to the public interest. The projected total rate base at the end of the future test year shall be used to establish new base rates. New base rates shall not go into effect before the 1st day of the future test year.

Certain public utilities that elect to utilize a future test year within 45 days of the end of the future test year shall update their base rates as described in the act. The total ending rate base and expense items in the update shall not be greater than the total ending rate base and expense items approved by the Commission in its report and order establishing base rates. The Commission and parties to the case shall have 60 days to review the accuracy of the updated information provided by the utility. The Commission shall order the utility to file new tariff sheets reflecting the update, as described in the act.

Certain utilities that request a test year shall not recover the costs of any plant investments made during the test year period under certain mechanisms described in current law.

For utilities that elected to use a future test year, a reconciliation of the rate base at the end of the future test year shall be provided to the Commission within 45 days of the end of the future test year. If the actual rate base is less than the rate base used to set base rates in the prior general rate proceeding, the portion of the annual revenue requirement reflecting the rate base difference shall be returned to customers. The revenue requirement calculations are described in the act. The difference in revenue requirement shall be placed into a regulatory liability to be returned to customers in the next general rate proceeding with such regulatory liability to accrue carrying costs at the utility's weighted average cost of capital.

The Commission may consider any change in business risk to the utility resulting from implementation of the adjustment mechanism in setting the utility's allowed return in any rate proceeding, in addition to any other changes in business risk experienced by the utility.

For a utility that elected to use a future test year, a reconciliation of payroll expense, certain employee benefits, and rate case expense at the end of the future test year shall be provided to the Commission within 45 days of the end of the future test year. If the actual amounts are less than the amounts used to calculate the revenue requirement in the prior general rate proceeding, the difference shall be returned to customers. The difference in revenue requirement shall be placed into a regulatory liability to be returned to customers in the next general rate case with such regulatory liability to accrue carrying costs at the utility’s weighted average cost of capital.

The act creates definitions for "base rates" and "revenue requirement".

These provisions are identical to provisions in SB 5 (2025), and similar to SCS/SB 1280 (2024), a provision in SCS/HCS/HB 1746 (2024), and a provision in HB 2167 (2024).

A LARGE WATER PUBLIC UTILITY ACQUIRING A SMALL WATER UTILITY (Sections 393.320 and 393.1506)

Under the act, if a large water public utility chooses certain provisions for the acquisition of a small water utility, the Public Service Commission shall use such procedures to establish the rate making rate base of a small water utility during the acquisition, provided that the Commission independently concludes that a certificate of convenience and necessity should be granted. In making such determination, the Commission may take into account rates that may result from such acquisition.

An appraisal of a small water utility shall be performed by no less than two appraisers, instead of three appraisers as currently provided. One appraiser shall be appointed by the small water utility, one appraiser shall be appointed by the large water public utility, and the third appraiser may be appointed by the Commission. The act repeals the provision that the third appraiser shall be appointed by the two appraisers so appointed. Duties of the appr