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Committee hears widespread concern over bill limiting additional meter charges; sponsors say language needs work
Summary
House Bill 1178 would limit a utility’s ability to charge an ongoing additional meter (customer) fee at the same postal address. Municipal utilities, cooperatives and investor‑owned utilities told the House Committee on Utilities the bill is too broad and needs clearer definitions for customer charge, service location and rate classes.
The Missouri House Committee on Utilities took testimony on House Bill 1178, a proposal to limit a utility’s ability to collect an ongoing fixed monthly meter (customer) charge for additional meters at the same physical address. Representative Vanderman, sponsor of the bill, told the committee the measure is intended to prevent ongoing duplicative fixed charges where no additional fixed infrastructure was installed.
Vanderman described an example from a constituent who had an outbuilding about 50 feet from a primary residence and said the household was paying an additional monthly meter charge of about $48 while the incremental billed usage averaged about $7 per month. “My idea behind the bill was to limit the ability for an ongoing fixed cost charge to an additional meter when there isn’t any additional fixed costs,” the sponsor said, while acknowledging the bill’s language is broad and “needs some work.” The…
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