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The Missouri Public Service Commission set the date for a formal evidentiary hearing in Missouri American’s latest rate case for Feb. 27-March 10.

These hearings will be held in the Governor Office Building, Room 310, 200 Madison St., Jefferson City. The hearings will be streamed live on the commission’s website, www.psc.mo.gov.

On July 1, Missouri American filed water and sewer rate cases with the PSC seeking to increase annual water and sewer revenues by $99.6 million, or 25.7%.

Missouri American said it wants to recover nearly $770 million in investments it has either completed or planned between January 2021 and May 2023.

If approved in full by the PSC, the bill for a typical water customer, defined as someone using an average of 4,200 gallons monthly, would increase $12 or $13 per month.

The bill for a typical wastewater customer would stay about the same, and the bill for flat-rate wastewater customers would increase by $3 to $10 per month, depending on the service area.

Current bills also include an adjustment for the Water and Sewer Infrastructure Act to help pay for some completed projects. Under the rate review process, these projects are reviewed and may be included in any new rates set by regulators.

The rate request is expected to take up to 11 months, meaning new rates would not go into effect until late spring 2023, five years after the last change in base water rates for its customers, Missouri American noted in the announcement.

The company said in a statement that investments in the rate case include the replacement or installation of 280 miles of water and wastewater pipelines, upgrading of treatment plants, storage tanks, wells, pumping and lift stations, fire hydrants, meters and more.

Among those projects is the replacement of the high-service pump station building and its pumps in Joplin.

The utility this spring received a building permit from the city of Joplin for a new high-service pump station at its treatment plant at 21st Street and Murphy Avenue in Joplin. The pump station will replace units in service since 1983.

The project includes a new building to house the pump. The project is valued at $6.6 million, according to the building permit, with completion projected for December.

Missouri American also upgraded a series of water lines in the Royal Heights area of northern Joplin from 2 inches wide to 8 inches, and company officials have said other areas of the city are due for a similar project, including some on the south side of town and an area near Connor Avenue and A and B streets near Main Street.

The utility also has been replacing its lead service lines in areas where they still exist around the state.

“We are meeting and surpassing new federal regulations to remove all lead service lines by 2030 in communities we serve, including the customer-owned portion of the service line,” Rebecca Losli, vice president of engineering and business development, said in a statement when the rate request was announced. “Many lead service lines are located in older, underserved areas of our community, and we are replacing the entire lead service line at no direct cost to our customers.”

Missouri American Water is a subsidiary of American Water, the largest investor-owned water utility in the state, providing water and wastewater services to approximately 1.5 million people in the state.

The company provides drinking water to Joplin but does not provide sewer service for the city.

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