Liberty Electric was sent 'back to the drawing board' by the Missouri Public Service Commission on Wednesday. The utility company must make six significant changes to its customer service and billing practices before its rate hike request is approved.
PSC Chair Kayla Hahn and commissioner Maida Coleman reiterated that, "If the company can't fix the problems and improve customer service, the company won't get any money."
The $152 million rate increase was initially requested by Liberty in July, according to a press release. For residential customers with fixed rates, this would translate to $13 to $16 a month.
In November, Liberty was given a stipulation by the commissioners to improve its customer service and billing issues. The PSC does not believe the company has made significant changes to support approval of its rate request.
The most notable order from the commissioners is that
Liberty has to change its rate hike request from $152 million a year to $32.3 over three years.
It's unclear how the new order would translate to monthly customer billing.
The utility is not allowed to make any new or additional rate requests and must check in with the PSC for updates.
Liberty must also forgive $8.5 million in customers' unpaid bills and late charges. Customers are not allowed to pay carrying charges or interest for the delayed payments.
Two other orders relate to accommodating low-income and critical needs.
The company will allocate $550,000 for the low-weatherization plan and must set aside a total of $1 million for the low-income pilot program and the critical needs program.
The commission also recommended an arrearage forgiveness program, intended to alleviate the burden of unpaid bills for low-income customers.
"The order requires the Empire to find monthly status reports so the commission may closely monitor development and implementation of the program," said Hahn.
Commissioner Glen Kolmeyer agrees with the order.
"We were told it was getting better, and we were not seeing anything," Kolmeyer said.
The stipuatlions and order came from over 700 public testimonies from customers about their incorrect or late billing.
In July, the Public Service Commission, the Office of Public Counsel, and Liberty representatives hosted public hearings in Southwest Missouri.
The testimonies have become a cornerstone of the commissioners' stipulations and orders.
Commissioner Chair Kayla Hahn recalled testimony from a business owner in Joplin in support of the order. While his situation was unique, the testimony reflected a theme of frustrated customers with high electricity bills.
"He was diligently paying his monthly bills. However, due to no fault of his own, he found himself with an unusually high bill, which was nearly insurmountable. As a small business owner, he had dug into his savings and paid the bill," said Hahn.
Like the November 2025 stipulation, the commissioners thanked Liberty for its cooperation with the Office of Public Counsel and the commission.
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