Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Contingency

v3.3.0.814
Contingency
 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2015
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
Contingency
CONTINGENCY
The Company's, wholly owned subsidiary, MoGas, had a contingency arising from its certification proceeding before the FERC. As part of that proceeding, the FERC determined initial rates to be used by MoGas. The Missouri Public Service Commission ("MPSC") alleged that MoGas improperly included a purported acquisition premium associated with purchasing certain assets for the purpose of determining those rates. The FERC held that the issue did not need to be determined until MoGas filed its next rate case, which it was ordered to do within a certain period of time. The MPSC appealed that decision to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, which reversed the FERC's decision and remanded the matter to the FERC on the limited issue of whether the premium was properly included in the initial rates. In the interim MoGas filed and settled the required rate case which noted that the outcome of the settlement could impact rates. The FERC continued to maintain that the purchase price of the assets could be included in the rate base. The MPSC petitioned the D.C Circuit for review of the FERC's orders. MoGas was an intervenor in that proceeding. On April 7, 2015, the DC Circuit Court of Appeals issued a ruling upholding the FERC's decision to allow MoGas to include the acquisition premium in their rate base for purposes of determining initial rates.
The MPSC had 90 days from the date of the judgment to appeal to the Supreme Court. That date passed on July 6 without appeal. Therefore, the case is considered closed and the acquisition premium issue settled.