Liberty Utilities has amended its request to state regulators for permission to raise its prices. This comes on the heels of the Missouri Public Service commission opening an investigation into the company’s practices.
In November, Liberty asked the Public Service Commission to approve a rate hike of nearly 16%. If approved, it would have increased profits by more than $92 million.
In February, the company amended that request and is now asking for an increase of almost 30% — which would bring in an estimated $152 million more in revenue. The company’s website states the new version corrects a technical error in the previous filing.
Liberty Utilities provides various utility services to about half of Missouri counties and has more than 164,000 electric customers, according to the company.
The company estimates that, if approved, the rate increase would cost the average residential electric customer $33 - $39 more per month.
The utility’s request came one day before the Missouri Public Service Commission — the state agency that regulates utilities — announced an investigation into Liberty’s practices.
Commissioners said they heard repeated complaints in public hearings about the company's billing and customer service issues and implied those complaints prompted their investigation.
Jay Hardenbrook is the advocacy director for AARP in Missouri and said this is an example of how it's “vitally important” for people to attend public hearings.
“Those are rare opportunities for the public to get their issues resolved with utilities because those utility companies do not want to look bad in front of the Public Service Commission, so they are there trying to fix your issue as quickly as possible,” Hardenbrook said.
The Public Service Commission is scheduled to make a decision about the company’s rates in January of next year. Public hearings about the rate increase proposal are expected to be scheduled early next month.
A Liberty Utilities spokesperson declined a request for a taped interview.
