Before the Public Service Commission of the State of Missouri
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BEFORE THE PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION OF THE STATE OF MISSOURI In the Matter of the Laclede Gas Company’s ) Request to Increase Its Revenues for Gas ) File No. GR-2017-0215 Service ) Tariff No. YG-2017-0195 In the Matter of the Laclede Gas Company d/b/a ) Missouri Gas Energy’s Request to Increase Its ) File No. GR-2017-0216 Revenues for Gas Service ) Tariff No. YG-2017-0196 REPORT AND ORDER Issue Date: February 21, 2018 Effective Date: March 3, 2018 1 BEFORE THE PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION OF THE STATE OF MISSOURI In the Matter of the Laclede Gas Company’s ) Request to Increase Its Revenues for Gas ) File No. GR-2017-0215 Service ) Tariff No. YG-2017-0195 In the Matter of the Laclede Gas Company d/b/a ) Missouri Gas Energy’s Request to Increase Its ) File No. GR-2017-0216 Revenues for Gas Service ) Tariff No. YG-2017-0196 Table of Contents Appearances ................................................................................................................... 3 Procedural History ........................................................................................................... 5 Complaint Case ............................................................................................................... 7 The Partial Stipulations and Agreements ........................................................................ 8 General Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law .......................................................... 9 General Findings of Fact .......................................................................................... 10 The Rate Making Process ........................................................................................ 13 Conclusions of Law Regarding Jurisdiction ............................................................. 14 Conclusions of Law Regarding Just and Reasonable Rates ................................... 15 The Issues ..................................................................................................................... 17 I. Forest Park Property ............................................................................................. 17 II. Kansas Property Tax ........................................................................................... 25 III. Cost of Capital .................................................................................................... 27 A. Return on Common Equity ............................................................................. 27 B. Capital Structure ............................................................................................ 35 C. Cost of Debt ................................................................................................... 35 D. Short-Term Debt ............................................................................................ 35 IV. Rate Case Expense ............................................................................................ 44 V. PGA/ACA Tariff Revisions ................................................................................... 54 VI. Cost Allocation Manual ....................................................................................... 57 VII. Gas Inventory Carrying Charges ....................................................................... 64 VIII. Credit Card Processing Fees............................................................................ 67 IX. Trackers ............................................................................................................. 72 X. Surveillance ......................................................................................................... 74 XI. Rate Design ........................................................................................................ 77 XII. Pensions, OPEBs and SERP ............................................................................ 90 XIII. Income Taxes ................................................................................................. 105 2 XIV. Incentive Compensation for Employees ......................................................... 115 XV. Uncollectibles .................................................................................................. 126 XVI. Performance Metrics ...................................................................................... 128 XVII. Transition Costs ............................................................................................ 131 XVIII. Low Income Energy Assistance Program..................................................... 133 XIX. CHP ............................................................................................................... 136 XX. AMR Meters .................................................................................................... 139 Ordered Paragraphs.................................................................................................... 145 APPEARANCES Rick Zucker, Michael C. Pendergast, Larry W. Dority, and James M. Fischer, Attorneys at Law, 700 Market Street, Sixth Floor, St. Louis, Missouri 63101 For Spire Missouri Inc. Brian T. Bear, General Counsel, 301 W. High Street, Room 680, Jefferson City, Missouri 65102 For the Missouri Division of Energy. Andrew J. Linhares, Staff Attorney, 409 Vandiver Drive, Building 5, Suite 205, Columbia, Missouri 65202 For the National Housing Trust. Natalie Karas, Senior Regulatory Attorney, 1875 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20009 For the Environmental Defense Fund. David Woodsmall, Attorney at Law, 308 E. High Street, Suite 204, Jefferson City, Missouri 65101 For the Midwest Energy Consumers Group. Lewis Mills and Edward F. Downey, Attorneys at Law, 221 Bolivar Street, Suite 101, Jefferson City, Missouri 65101. For the Missouri Industrial Energy Consumers. John B. Coffman, Attorney at Law, 871 Tuxedo Boulevard, St. Louis, Missouri 63119 For the Consumers Council of Missouri. 3 William D. Steinmeier, Attorney at Law, 2031 Tower Drive, Jefferson City, Missouri 65110 For the City of St. Joseph, Missouri. Terry M. Jarrett, Attorney at Law, 514 E. High Street, Suite 22, Jefferson City, Missouri 65101 For MoGas Pipeline, LLC. Richard S. Brownlee, III, Attorney at Law, 121 Madison, Jefferson City, Missouri 65101 For the Missouri School Boards’ Association. Lera Shemwell, Legal Counsel, Ryan Smith, Legal Counsel, Nathan Williams, Deputy Staff Counsel, and Hampton Williams, Legal Counsel, 200 Madison Street, Suite 650, Jefferson City, Missouri 65102 For the Office of the Public Counsel. Whitney Payne, Associate Counsel, Mark Johnson, Senior Counsel, Casi Aslin, Legal Counsel, Marcella Forck, Associate Counsel, Nicole Mers, Deputy Counsel, Jeff Keevil, Deputy Counsel, and Kevin Thompson, Chief Staff Counsel, 200 Madison Street, Suite 800, Jefferson City, Missouri 65102 For the Staff of the Missouri Public Service Commission. SENIOR REGULATORY LAW JUDGE: Nancy Dippell The Missouri Public Service Commission, having considered all the competent and substantial evidence upon the whole record, makes the following findings of fact and conclusions of law. The positions and arguments of all of the parties have been considered by the Commission in making this decision. Failure to specifically address a piece of evidence, position, or argument of any party does not indicate the Commission has failed to consider relevant evidence, but indicates rather that the omitted material was not dispositive of this decision. 4 Procedural History On April 11, 2017, Spire Missouri Inc., then known as Laclede Gas Company, and referred to herein as “Spire Missouri,”1 filed tariffs designed to implement general rate increases for gas service in its Spire Missouri East (f/k/a Laclede Gas Company, and referred to herein as “LAC” or “Laclede”) and Spire Missouri West (f/k/a Missouri Gas Energy and referred to herein as “MGE”) territories. The tariffs would have increased Laclede’s annual gas revenues by approximately $58.1 million, exclusive of associated taxes, of which approximately $29.5 million is already being recovered through its infrastructure system replacement surcharge (ISRS), resulting in a net increase of $28.5 million.2 The tariffs would have increased MGE’s annual gas revenues by approximately $50.4 million, exclusive of associated taxes, of which approximately $13.4 million is already being recovered through its ISRS, resulting in a net increase of $37.0 million.3 The tariff revisions carried an effective date of May 11, 2017. By orders issued on April 19, 2017, the Commission suspended Spire Missouri’s general rate increase tariffs until March 8, 2018, the maximum amount of time allowed by the controlling statute.4 The following parties filed applications and were allowed to intervene: Missouri Industrial Energy Consumers (MIEC); Midwest Energy Consumers Group (MECG); Missouri Department of Economic Development – Division of Energy (DE); Consumers Council of Missouri (Consumers Council); Missouri School Boards’ 1 This is the first general rate case the Commission has heard since Laclede Gas Company acquired Missouri Gas Energy on July 17, 2013. During the course of this proceeding, on August 30, 2017, Laclede Gas Company changed its name to Spire Missouri Inc. and now operates its two divisions in Missouri as Spire Missouri East and Spire Missouri West. 2 File No. GR-2017-0215, In the Matter of Laclede Gas Company Request to Increase Its Revenues for Gas Service, Tariff No. YG-2017-0195, filed April 11, 2017. 3 File No. GR-2017-0216, In the Matter of Laclede Gas