Missouri § 386.520 - Appeal, pendency of, staying or suspending operation, when.

§ 386.520. Appeal, pendency of, staying or suspending operation, when.

1.  The pendency of an appeal under section 386.510 shall not of itself stay or suspend the operation of the order or decision of the commission, but with respect to commission orders or decisions issued on and after July 1, 2011, that do not involve the establishment of new rates and charges for a public utility, the appellate court may in its discretion, or upon the recommendation of a special master appointed for such purpose, and after the posting of an appropriate appeal bond, stay or suspend the operation of the order or decision of the commission, in whole or in part, if in its discretion it determines that great or irreparable damage would otherwise result to the appellant.

2.  With respect to orders or decisions issued on and after July 1, 2011, that involve the establishment of new rates or charges for public utilities that are not classified as price-cap or competitive companies, there shall be no stay or suspension of the commission's order or decision, however:

(1)  In the event a final and unappealable judicial decision determines that a commission order or decision unlawfully or unreasonably decided an issue or issues in a manner affecting rates, then the court shall instruct the commission to provide temporary rate adjustments and, if new rates and charges have not been approved by the commission before the judicial decision becomes final and unappealable, prospective rate adjustments.  Such adjustments shall be calculated based on the record evidence in the proceeding under review and the information contained in the reconciliation and billing determinants provided by the commission under subsection 4 of section 386.420 and in accordance with the procedures set forth in subdivisions (2) to (5) of this subsection;

(2)  If the effect of the unlawful or unreasonable commission decision issued on or after July 1, 2011, was to increase the public utility's rates and charges in excess of what the public utility would have received had the commission not erred or to decrease the public utility's rates and charges in a lesser amount than would have occurred had the commission not erred, then the commission shall be instructed on remand to approve temporary rate adjustments designed to flow through to the public utility's then-existing customers the excess amounts that were collected by the utility plus interest at the higher of the prime bank lending rate minus two percentage points or zero.  Such amounts shall be calculated for the period commencing with the date the rate increase or decrease took effect until the earlier of the date when new rates and charges consistent with the court's opinion became effective or when new rates or charges otherwise approved by the commission as a result of a general rate case filing or complaint became effective.  Such amounts shall then be reflected as a rate adjustment over a like period of time.  The commission shall issue its order on remand within sixty days unless the commission determines that additional time is necessary to properly calculate the temporary or any prospective rate adjustment, in which case the commission shall issue its order within one hundred ^* twenty days;

(3)  If the effect of the unlawful or unreasonable commission decision was to increase the public utility's rates and charges by a lesser amount than what the public utility would have received had the commission not erred or to decrease the public utility's rates and charges in a greater amount than would have occurred had the commission not erred, then the commission shall be instructed on remand to approve temporary rate adjustments designed to allow the public utility to recover from its then-existing customers the amounts it should have collected plus interest at the higher of the prime bank lending rate minus two percentage points or zero.  Such amounts shall be calculated for the period commencing with the date the rate increase or decrease took effect until the earlier of the date when new permanent rates and charges consistent with the court's opinion became effective or when new permanent rates or charges otherwise approved by the commission as a result of a general rate case filing or complaint became effective.  Such amounts shall then be reflected as a rate adjustment over a like period of time.  The commission shall issue its order on remand within sixty days unless the commission determines that additional time is necessary to properly calculate the temporary or any prospective rate adjustment, in which case the commission shall issue its order within one hundred ^* twenty days;

(4)  If the effect of the unlawful or unreasonable commission decision was to allocate too much of a rate increase or too little of a rate decrease to a customer class or classes, then the commission shall be instructed on remand to approve temporary rate adjustments for each customer class as necessary to ensure that each customer class is charged the amounts that would have been charged had the commission not erred.  Such amounts shall be calculated for the period commencing with the date the rate increase or decrease took effect until the earlier of the date when new rates and charges consistent with the court's opinion became effective or when new rates or charges otherwise approved by the commission as a result of a general rate case filing or complaint became effective.  Such amounts shall then be reflected as a rate adjustment over a like period of time.  The commission shall issue its order on remand within sixty days unless the commission determines that additional time is necessary to properly calculate the temporary or any prospective rate adjustment, in which case the commission shall issue its order within one hundred ^* twenty days;

(5)  On and after July 1, 2011, no action affecting the public utility's collection of rates and charges shall be taken in cases where the court cannot make a determination on the merits because the commission failed to include adequate findings of fact to support the commission's decision or failed to receive evidence properly proffered, provided that the commission shall provide such findings of fact or otherwise issue a new order within ninety days of the date of the court's mandate.  If such new order is appealed, the period for measuring amounts subject to temporary rate adjustments process set forth in subdivisions (1) to (4) of this subsection shall commence beginning with the date the rate increase or decrease took effect.

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(RSMo 1939 § 5691, A. 1949 H.B. 2099, A.L. 2011 S.B. 48)

Prior revisions: 1929 § 5235; 1919 § 10523

Effective 7-01-11

*Word "and" appears here in original rolls.