The Missouri Public Service Commission has approved agreements reached by parties in electric and natural gas cases filed by Union Electric Company d/b/a Ameren Missouri seeking an electric and a natural gas Accounting Authority Order (AAO) to govern costs and financial impacts associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Under the agreements, the costs being deferred in the AAO include operating and maintenance expense related to protecting Ameren Missouri employees and customers, write offs of bad debt, COVID-19 related customer communication costs, expenses for COVID-19 related temporary operating centers, mileage or rental vehicle costs for employees who no longer share service vehicles due to COVID-19, and waived late payment and reconnection fees up to the amount included in the revenue requirement used to last set Ameren Missouri’s base electric and natural gas rates.

Ameren Missouri agrees that it is not seeking to defer, and will not defer into a regulatory asset any lost revenues from reduced customer usage (volumetric charges) due to the pandemic.  Also under the agreement, specific operating cost reductions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic will be tracked and netted against the deferred costs in the AAO.

All costs and cost reductions will be tracked, netted and deferred separately to a regulatory asset until March 31, 2021.  Under the agreement, the duration of the time period may be extended or renewed upon agreement of the parties and approved by the Commission or by order of the Commission.

The ability to track and defer costs into a regulatory asset is for accounting purposes.  Rate treatment of this regulatory asset will be determined in Ameren Missouri’s next electric and natural gas rate cases.  Parties reserve the right to review and challenge Ameren Missouri’s recovery of COVID-19 costs and adjustments in the Company’s next general rate cases.

“After reviewing the Agreement, the Commission finds that it is a reasonable resolution of the issues contained therein and should be approved,” said the Commission.

Ameren Missouri provides electric service to approximately 1.2 million electric customers in Missouri.  Ameren Missouri provides natural gas service to approximately 132,350 customers in 25 Missouri counties.