HB 2343 Summary

• Repeals prohibition on electrical corporations charging ratepayers for construction work in progress costs, except where the Public Service Commission authorizes charges to maintain corporate financial ratios for cost-effective generation, environmental upgrades, smart grid, and energy efficiency programs.

• Establishes the "Missouri Energy Security Construction Act" allowing electrical corporations to recover capital costs for baseload generating plants (500+ megawatts, coal or nuclear) through project development orders, facility review orders, and revised rates filings.

• Requires electrical corporations to file project development applications establishing prudency of preconstruction costs, with the Commission issuing a project development order if the decision to incur such costs is prudent; preconstruction costs including AFUDC become recoverable through rates.

• Creates facility review order process where the Commission approves rate recovery for facility capital costs if construction decision is prudent, establishes return on equity, inflation indices, and allows revised rates to recover weighted average cost of capital and tax capitalized interest during construction.

• Permits revised rates filings every three months during construction with Commission staff review and audit; final audit after commercial operation determines any over/under recovery, which must be credited or charged to ratepayers; restricts court authority to delay construction or prohibit previously approved cost recovery.