Regulatory Matters |
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Regulatory Matters | Note 3: Regulatory Matters General Rate Cases The table below summarizes the annualized incremental revenues, assuming a constant sales volume and customer count, resulting from general rate case authorizations that became effective during 2025. The amounts include reductions for the amortization of the excess accumulated deferred income taxes (“EADIT”) that are generally offset in income tax expense.
(a)Interim rates were effective May 1, 2024, and the difference between interim and final approved rates were subject to refund. The Virginia State Corporation Commission issued its final order on February 24, 2025. On February 24, 2025, the Virginia State Corporation Commission issued an order approving the September 19, 2024, joint “black box” settlement of the general rate case filed by the Company’s Virginia subsidiary. The general rate case order approves the stipulated $15 million annualized increase in water and wastewater revenues. Interim water and wastewater rates became effective May 1, 2024, with the difference between interim and final approved rates subject to refund. The requested annualized revenue increase was driven primarily by more than $110 million of incremental capital investments made and to be made between May 2023 and April 2025. For purposes of the general rate case, the Virginia subsidiary’s view of its rate base is $369 million. The general rate case order also approved, solely for purposes of the Virginia subsidiary’s future filings requiring a stated cost of capital and/or capital structure (including its annual information and water and wastewater infrastructure surcharge filings), a return on equity of 9.70% and a capital structure consisting of an equity component of 45.67% and a debt and other component of 54.33%, which also represents the Virginia subsidiary’s view of its return on equity and capital structure in this general rate case. On January 21, 2025, the Tennessee Public Utility Commission (the “TPUC”) approved a motion authorizing an adjustment of water base rates requested in a rate case filed on May 1, 2024, by the Company’s Tennessee subsidiary. The TPUC approved an increase of $1 million in annualized revenues, excluding previously recovered infrastructure surcharges of $18 million, based on an authorized return on equity of 9.70%, authorized rate base of approximately $300 million, a common equity ratio of 44.19% and a debt ratio of 55.81%. This adjustment took effect on January 21, 2025, and is driven primarily by approximately $173 million in capital investments made and to be made by the Tennessee subsidiary through December 2025. On January 14, 2025, the California Public Utilities Commission (“CPUC”) granted the Company’s California subsidiary’s request for a one-year extension of its cost of capital filing to May 1, 2026, to set its authorized cost of capital beginning January 1, 2027, and maintain its current authorized cost of capital through 2026. On December 5, 2024, the Illinois Commerce Commission issued a final order approving the adjustment of base rates requested in a rate case originally filed on January 25, 2024, by the Company’s Illinois subsidiary. The general rate case order approved an increase of $105 million in annualized water and wastewater system revenues, excluding previously recovered infrastructure surcharges of $5 million, based on an authorized return on equity of 9.84%, authorized rate base of $2.2 billion, and a capital structure with an equity component of 49.00% and a debt component of 51.00%. The general rate case order denied the second step increase of $16 million. The increase was effective January 1, 2025, and is driven primarily by approximately $557 million in capital investments made and to be made by the Illinois subsidiary from January 2024 through December 2025. On December 5, 2024, the CPUC approved a final decision adopting the terms of a partial settlement agreement filed on November 17, 2023, in the Company’s California subsidiary’s general rate case originally filed on July 1, 2022. Incorporating the then currently effective return on equity of 10.20%, the decision provides incremental annualized water and wastewater revenues of $21 million in the 2024 test year, and an estimated $16 million in the 2025 escalation year and $16 million in the 2026 attrition year. The 2024 rates were implemented retroactively to January 1, 2024. In addition, the CPUC denied the California subsidiary’s proposed Water Resources Sustainability Plan decoupling mechanism but approved continuation of its currently effective Annual Consumption Adjustment Mechanism. On December 12, 2024, the California subsidiary filed an application for rehearing of the CPUC’s denial of the proposed Water Resources Sustainability Plan decoupling mechanism. Pending General Rate Case Filings On August 2, 2024, the Company’s Hawaii subsidiary filed a general rate case requesting approximately $2 million in annualized incremental revenues, which is based on a proposed return on equity of 10.67% and a capital structure with an equity component of 52.11% and debt component of 47.89%. The requested annualized incremental revenue is driven primarily by approximately $41 million in capital investments made and to be made by the Hawaii subsidiary through 2025. On April 25, 2025, the Hawaii subsidiary filed with the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission (the “HPUC”) a partial settlement, reached with the Division of Consumer Advocacy, in its general rate case. The partial settlement agrees to an annualized increase of approximately $1 million in wastewater revenue, which is based on a return on equity of 9.75% and a capital structure with an equity component of 52.11% and a debt component of 47.89%. The settlement remains subject to HPUC review and approval and the Hawaii subsidiary expects a decision mid-year in 2025. On July 1, 2024, the Company’s Missouri subsidiary filed a general rate case requesting approximately $148 million in annualized incremental revenues. The original request was based on a return on equity of 10.75% and a capital structure with an equity component of 50.54% and a long-term debt component of 49.46%, and was driven primarily by $1.5 billion of incremental capital investments completed and planned by the Missouri subsidiary from January 2023 through May 2026. On July 31, 2024, the Missouri Public Service Commission (the “MoPSC”) issued an order establishing the test year in this case, which modified the Missouri subsidiary’s original proposal for a future test year through May 2026, and instead reverted to a true-up period through December 31, 2024, with an allowance for proposed discrete adjustments subsequent to that date. On September 6, 2024, the Missouri subsidiary filed supplemental testimony to revise the request to approximately $123 million in annualized incremental revenues (excluding infrastructure surcharges) and to define the specific discrete adjustments proposed through the rate effective period, which lowered the incremental capital investments completed and planned to $1.1 billion through May 2025. In February 2025, the Missouri subsidiary filed an additional request for recovery of defined infrastructure investments, which adjusted the infrastructure surcharges to $63 million, and, in turn, decreased the amount of incremental annualized revenue (excluding such infrastructure surcharges) to approximately $107 million. On March 17, 2025, the Missouri subsidiary entered into a stipulation and agreement (the “Stipulation”) with, among other parties, the staff of the MoPSC and the Office of the Public Counsel, as to an annualized increase of approximately $63 million in water and wastewater revenues, excluding $63 million in infrastructure surcharges. The Stipulation is subject to review and approval by the MoPSC, which is anticipated in the second quarter of 2025, and, if approved, new rates are expected to be effective by May 31, 2025. On May 1, 2024, the Company’s Iowa subsidiary filed a general rate case requesting approximately $21 million in additional annualized revenues, which is based on a proposed return on equity of 10.75% and a capital structure with an equity component of 52.57% and debt component of 47.43%. The requested annualized revenue increase is driven primarily by approximately $157 million in capital investments made and to be made by the Iowa subsidiary through March 2026. Interim rates became effective May 11, 2024, with the difference between interim and final approved rates subject to refund. On August 29, 2024, the Iowa subsidiary submitted supplemental testimony consistent with the procedural schedule, which was subsequently challenged by the parties in the proceeding. On October 4, 2024, the Iowa Utilities Commission issued an order that granted the inclusion of the supplemental filing and extended the procedural schedule in the case beyond the statutory ten-month period. The Iowa subsidiary expects resolution of this proceeding by the end of May 2025. Infrastructure Surcharges A number of states have authorized the use of regulatory mechanisms that permit rates to be adjusted outside of a general rate case for certain costs and investments, such as infrastructure surcharge mechanisms that permit recovery of capital investments to replace aging infrastructure. Presented in the table below are annualized incremental revenues, assuming a constant sales volume and customer count, resulting from infrastructure surcharge authorizations that became effective during 2025:
Pending Infrastructure Surcharge Filings On April 15, 2025, the Company’s New Jersey subsidiary filed an infrastructure surcharge proceeding requesting $15 million in additional annualized revenues.
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