Liberty receives approval from Missouri Public Service Commission to implement new rates, phased in over three years 

Approval comes after meeting customer service and billing metrics with over 99% compliance 

On July 15, 2026, the Missouri Public Service Commission (MPSC) issued an order allowing The Empire District Electric Company, doing business as Liberty, to implement new electric rates effective August 3, 2026, and phased in over three years. The MPSC found that Liberty met customer service and billing performance standards established as part of a settlement agreement approved by the Commission on January 14, 2026, in Liberty’s Missouri electric rate case. As a result of the July 15 order, Liberty will begin to recover costs of investments made to improve reliability and service for Missouri homes and businesses. As part of the July 15 order, Liberty will continue to report quarterly to the MPSC on its customer service and billing performance.  

Three-year rate phase-in to support customers 

New rates are effective August 3, 2026. They will be phased in over a three-year period to ease the impact on customers. 

The average residential electric customer using about 1,000 kilowatt hours per month will see a total monthly bill increase of about:   

• $7.83 in year one (an approximately 4.9% increase over current rates) 

• $8.91 in year two (an approximately 5.31% increase over year one), and 

• $8.94 in year three (an approximately 5.06% increase over year two).  

Prior to new rates taking effect, the total bill for residential customers using 1,000 kilowatt-hours of energy per month is about $159.91. Based on today’s rates, the total bill after three years would be $185.60. This is about a 16.1% increase in the total bill, which includes base rates, fuel costs, and other charges.  

New financial assistance programs approved for customers in need 

As part of the settlement agreement, Liberty will continue to offer support to customers who need it most. 

• The MPSC approved the new Fresh Start program, which helps customers who have fallen behind on their bills. 

• Liberty will also develop and contribute $8.5 million toward a program to forgive past-due balances for qualifying customers. 

• Shareholders will also continue to fund local weatherization programs designed to help lower long-term energy costs by making homes more energy efficient. 

• Shareholders will also continue to fund its critical needs program for some of our most vulnerable customers.  

Key projects and initiatives intended to benefit customers 

This rate change reflects the significant investments made to our system for the benefit of our customers. 

These investments help improve Liberty’s service and strengthen our system against extreme weather and other challenges so we can keep the lights on and respond quickly to prevent and shorten outages. 

Those projects include: 

• Increasing capacity to support energy demand and protect reliability by upgrading or rebuilding 23 substations across Liberty’s electric service area and investing in improvements to our Ozark Beach hydroelectric and State Line Combined Cycle plants that help them to run more efficiently. This supports increased energy generation at the plants and reliability during periods of extreme weather.  

• Reducing transmission costs and improving reliability for customers across Liberty’s electric service area including Missouri by upgrading more than 80 miles of transmission lines and doubling capacity with a new 25-mile transmission line between Riverton and Neosho in Kansas.  

• Improving response to customers and reducing the duration of outages with new service centers in Aurora and Bolivar that serve as a base of operations for line and substation crews, construction planners, and other Liberty personnel.  

• Boosting capacity and reliability in downtown Joplin by converting to a 12kV system from an outdated 4kV system and building a new distribution line in Branson to accommodate growth and increasing demand.  

• Improving reliability by reinforcing or replacing approximately 2,300 poles to strengthen our infrastructure against extreme weather, installing approximately 5,100 wildlife guards that protect our lines and substations against animal-related outages, and sectionalizing existing circuits to quickly and efficiently reduce the number of customers impacted by outages.  

• Protecting our infrastructure and the grid by installing physical security and cybersecurity technology at substations – security measures enhance customer reliability, personnel and substation security, and operational efficiency. 

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