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SECOND REGULAR SESSION
HOUSE BILL NO. 2046
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBL Y
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENT A TIVE TERR Y .
4049H.01I JOSEPH ENGLER, Chief Clerk
AN ACT
T o amend chapter 386, RSMo, by adding thereto one new section relating to reimbursement
of customer losses due to power outages.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Chapter 386, RSMo, is amended by adding thereto one new section, to be
2 known as section 386.1600, to read as follows:
386.1600. 1. In the event that mor e than four -fifths of one percen t of customers
2 of an investor -owned electric utility are subjected to a continuous power interruption of
3 four or mor e hours that res ults in the transmission of power at less than fifty per cent of
4 the standard voltage, or that res ults in the total loss of power transmission, the utility
5 shall be res ponsible for compensating customers affected by such interruption for all
6 actual damages, including food spoilage, which shall not include consequential damages,
7 suffer ed as a result of the power interruption. The utility shall also reim burse the
8 affected municipality , county , or other unit of local government in which the power
9 interruption has taken place for all emergency and contingency expenses incurr ed by
10 the unit of local government as a result of the interruption. A waiver of the
11 r equir ements of this subsection may be granted by the commission in instances in which
12 the utility can show that the power interruption was a res ult of any one or mor e of the
13 following causes:
14 (1) Unpr eventable damage due to weather events or conditions;
15 (2) Customer tampering;
16 (3) Unpr eventable damage due to civil or international unr est or animals; or
EXPLANA TION — Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in the above bill is not enacted and is
intended to be omitted from the law . Matter in bold-face type in the above bill is proposed language.
17 (4) Damage to utility equipment or other actions by a party other than the
18 utility , its employees, agents, or contractors.
19 2. In the event of a power surge or other fluctuation that causes damage and
20 affects mor e than four -fifths of one percen t of customers, the electric utility shall pay to
21 affected customers the rep lacement value of all goods, including food, damaged as a
22 r esult of the power surge or other fluctuation unless the investor -owned electric utility
23 can show that the power surge or other fluctuation was due to one or mor e of the
24 following causes:
25 (1) Unpr eventable damage due to weather events or conditions;
26 (2) Customer tampering;
27 (3) Unpr eventable damage due to civil or international unr est or animals; or
28 (4) Damage to utility equipment or other actions by a party other than the
29 utility , its employees, agents, or contractors.
30 3. Loss of reven ue and expenses incurr ed in complying with subsections 1 and 2
31 of this section shall not be rec overed fr om ratepayers.
32 4. Customers with r espect to whom a waiver has been granted by the
33 commission under subdivisions (1) to (4) of subsection 1 and subdivisions (1) to (4) of
34 subsection 2 shall not count toward the four -fifths of one per cent of the total customers
35 r equir ed by subsections 1 and 2 of this section.
36 5. Remedies pr ovided for under this section shall be sought exclusively thr ough
37 the public service commission. Damages awarded under this section for a power
38 interruption shall be limited to actual damages, which shall not include consequential
39 damages, and litigation costs. A utility's r equest for a waiver of this section shall be
40 timely if filed no later than thirty days after the date on which a claim is filed with the
41 commission seeking damages or expense r eimbursement under this section. No utility
42 shall be liable under this section while a req uest for waiver is pending. Damage awards
43 shall not be paid out of utility rate funds.
44 6. The prov isions of this section shall not in any way diminish or repl ace other
45 civil or administrative rem edies available to a customer or a class of customers.
46 7. The public service commission may pr omulgate all necessary rules and
47 r egulations for the administration of this section. Any rule or portion of a rule, as that
48 term is defined in section 536.010, that is creat ed under the authority delegated in this
49 section shall become effective only if it complies with and is subject to all of the
50 pr ovisions of chapter 536 and, if applicable, section 536.028. This section and chapter
51 536 are nonseverable and if any of the powers vested with the general assembly
52 pursuant to chapter 536 to revi ew , to delay the effective date, or to disappr ove and annul
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53 a rule are subsequently held unconstitutional, then the grant of rulemaking authority
54 and any rule prop osed or adopted after August 28, 2026, shall be invalid and void.
✔
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