What large data centers pay for electricity is not up to further debate in Missouri, at least for now.
The Missouri Public Service Commission on Wednesday denied a request from a consumer group to redo a hearing that set Ameren Missouri’s rates and terms of service for large-load customers, such as data centers.
The Public Service Commission wrote in a filing that the Consumers Council, which advocates for monopoly utility customers, hadn’t demonstrated “sufficient reason to rehear the Commission’s order.”
Ameren Missouri’s rates, known as tariffs, went into effect on Dec. 4. On the same day, the Consumers Council filed a motion for a rehearing, saying the tariffs would not adequately protect existing customers from rate increases that new data centers could bring because of the large amount of power they use.
The council is disappointed in the PSC’s decision, council’s Executive Director Sandra Padgett told St. Louis Public Radio by email.
“We do not want Missouri households to be left ‘holding the bag’ if a data center shuts down operations, fails to build, or decides to leave the state altogether,” she wrote. “We're also concerned that if a new generation of infrastructure is required, Missouri residential rate payers may bear a disproportionate expense.”
This story has been updated with a statement from the Consumers Council.
