EXPLANATION-Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in this bill is not enacted
and is intended to be omitted in the law.
FIRST REGULAR SESSION
SENATE BILL NO. 213
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY SENATOR FITZWATER.
0654S.01I KRISTINA MARTIN, Secretary
AN ACT
To repeal sections 137.100, 153.030, and 153.034, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof six new
sections relating to electric utilities.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Sections 137.100, 153.030, and 153.034, RSMo, 1
are repealed and six new sections enacted in lieu thereof, to 2
be known as sections 67.5350, 137.100, 137.124, 153.030, 3
153.034, and 393.172, to read as follows:4
67.5350. 1. As used in this section, the following 1
terms shall mean: 2
(1) "Material amendment", any amendment to a permit 3
issued by a county commission to construct a solar farm 4
which: 5
(a) Changes the solar farm's generation type from one 6
type of utility facility to another; 7
(b) Increases the facility's nameplate capacity; or 8
(c) Changes the boundaries of the solar farm, unless 9
the new boundaries of the facility are completely within the 10
previous boundaries of the facility or the facility 11
components outside of the previous boundary are underground; 12
(2) "Solar farm", a group of photovoltaic 13
interconnected solar panels or arrays that convert sunlight 14
into electricity for the primary purpose of wholesale or 15
retail sales of generated electricity, including all on -site 16
equipment and facilities necessary for the proper operation 17 SB 213 2
of the facility, such as electrical collection and 18
transmission lines, battery storage systems, transformers, 19
substations, and operations and maintenance facilities 20
within at least twenty continuous acres. 21
2. Prior to obtaining a certificate of public 22
convenience or necessity issued by the Missouri public 23
service commission, any person constructing a solar farm 24
shall first submit an application to the county commission 25
in each county where the solar farm is to be located. 26
3. The county commission of any county shall adopt any 27
order or ordinance requiring a permit to construct a solar 28
farm within specified boundaries located in whole or in part 29
in an unincorporated area of a county. Such permit shall 30
require any construction to be at least one thousand linear 31
feet from any church, school, or city, town, or villag e 32
limit, or any private residence. 33
4. Within ninety days of receiving an application to 34
construct a solar farm, the county commission shall hold a 35
public meeting before the issuance of any such permit to 36
construct a solar farm. Notice shall be provided at least 37
fourteen days prior to the public meeting. At the public 38
meeting, the applicant shall provide in writing the 39
following information: 40
(1) The maximum nameplate capacity of the solar farm; 41
and 42
(2) A map of the proposed geogra phic boundaries of the 43
project within that county. 44
5. Not later than ninety days after the public 45
meeting, the county commission shall: 46
(1) Issue a permit to the applicant accepting the 47
construction proposal; 48 SB 213 3
(2) Issue a permit to the applicant limiting the 49
boundaries of the proposed solar farm to a smaller 50
geographic area, completely within the geographic area 51
proposed by the applicant; or 52
(3) Deny the permit and prohibit the construction of 53
the solar farm by the applicant. 54
6. Any applicant intending to make a material 55
amendment once a permit is issued shall submit a new 56
application for a permit to the county commission. 57
7. The county commission shall require any applicant 58
who is issued a permit to obtain liabil ity insurance in an 59
amount sufficient to cover any damages which may arise from 60
the construction of the solar farm. 61
8. The Missouri public service commission shall not 62
issue a certificate of public convenience or necessity to 63
any applicant who di d not receive a permit to construct a 64
solar farm from the county commission in each county where 65
the solar farm is to be located. 66
137.100. 1. The following subjects are exempt from 1
taxation for state, county or local purposes: 2
(1) Lands and other property belonging to this state; 3
(2) Lands and other property belonging to any city, 4
county or other political subdivision in this state, 5
including market houses, town halls and other public 6
structures, with their furniture a nd equipments, and on 7
public squares and lots kept open for health, use or 8
ornament; 9
(3) Nonprofit cemeteries; 10
(4) The real estate and tangible personal property 11
which is used exclusively for agricultural or horticultural 12
societies organized in this state, including not -for-profit 13
agribusiness associations; 14 SB 213 4
(5) All property, real and personal, actually and 15
regularly used exclusively for religious worship, for 16
schools and colleges, or for purposes purely charitable and 17
not held for private or corporate profit, except that the 18
exemption herein granted does not include real property not 19
actually used or occupied for the purpose of the 20
organization but held or used as investment even though the 21
income or rentals received therefrom i s used wholly for 22
religious, educational or charitable purposes; 23
(6) Household goods, furniture, wearing apparel and 24
articles of personal use and adornment, as defined by the 25
state tax commission, owned and used by a person in [his] 26
such person's home or dwelling place; 27
(7) Motor vehicles leased for a period of at least one 28
year to this state or to any city, county, or political 29
subdivision or to any religious, educational, or charitable 30
organization which has obtained an exemption from t he 31
payment of federal income taxes, provided the motor vehicles 32
are used exclusively for religious, educational, or 33
charitable purposes; 34
(8) Real or personal property leased or otherwise 35
transferred by an interstate compact agency created pursuan t 36
to sections 70.370 to 70.430 or sections 238.010 to 238.100 37
to another for which or whom such property is not exempt 38
when immediately after the lease or transfer, the interstate 39
compact agency enters into a leaseback or other agreement 40
that directly or indirectly gives such interstate compact 41
agency a right to use, control, and possess the property; 42
provided, however, that in the event of a conveyance of such 43
property, the interstate compact agency must retain an 44
option to purchase the property a t a future date or, within 45
the limitations period for reverters, the property must 46 SB 213 5
revert back to the interstate compact agency. Property will 47
no longer be exempt under this subdivision in the event of a 48
conveyance as of the date, if any, when: 49
(a) The right of the interstate compact agency to use, 50
control, and possess the property is terminated; 51
(b) The interstate compact agency no longer has an 52
option to purchase or otherwise acquire the property; and 53
(c) There are no provisions f or reverter of the 54
property within the limitation period for reverters; and 55
(9) All property, real and personal, belonging to 56
veterans' organizations. As used in this section, 57
"veterans' organization" means any organization of veterans 58
with a congressional charter, that is incorporated in this 59
state, and that is exempt from taxation under section 60
501(c)(19) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended [; 61
(10) Solar energy systems not held for resale ]. 62
2. Notwithstanding the provi sions of subsection 1 of 63
this section or any other provision of law to the contrary, 64
solar energy systems constructed for exclusive use of a 65
single property may be exempt at the discretion of the 66
assessor. 67
137.124. 1. Beginning January 1, 2026, for purposes 1
of assessing all real property, excluding land, or tangible 2
personal property associated with a project that uses solar 3
energy directly to generate electricity, thirty -seven and 4
one-half percent of the original costs shall be the true 5
value in money of such property. Such value shall begin the 6
year immediately following the year of construction of the 7
property. The original costs shall reflect either: 8
(1) The actual and documented original property cost 9
to the taxpayer, as shall be provided by the taxpayer to the 10
assessor; or 11 SB 213 6
(2) In the absence of actual and documented original 12
property cost to the taxpayer, the estimated cost of the 13
property by the assessor, using an authoritative cost guide. 14
2. Nothing in this section shall be construed to 15
prohibit a project from engaging in enhanced enterprise zone 16
agreements under sections 135.950 to 135.973 or similar tax 17
abatement agreements with state or local officials or to 18
affect any existing enhanced ent erprise zone agreements. 19
153.030. 1. All bridges over streams dividing this 1
state from any other state owned, used, leased or otherwise 2
controlled by any person, corporation, railroad company or 3
joint stock company, and all bridges across or over 4
navigable streams within this state, where the charge is 5
made for crossing the same, which are now constructed, which 6
are in the course of construction, or which shall hereafter 7
be constructed, and all property, real and tangible 8
personal, owned, used, leased or otherwise controlled by 9
telegraph, telephone, electric power and light companies, 10
electric transmission lines, pipeline companies and express 11
companies shall be subject to taxation for state, county, 12
municipal and other local purposes to the same extent as the 13
property of private persons. 14
2. [And] Taxes levied [thereon] under subsection 1 of 15
this section shall be levied and collected in the manner as 16
is now or may hereafter be provided by law for the taxation 17
of railroad property in this state, and county commissions, 18
county boards of equalization and the state tax commission 19
are hereby required to perform the same duties and are given 20
the same powers, including punitive powers, in assessing, 21
equalizing and adjust ing the taxes on the property set forth 22
in this section as the county commissions and boards of 23
equalization and state tax commission have or may hereafter 24 SB 213 7
be empowered with, in assessing, equalizing, and adjusting 25
the taxes on railroad property; and a n authorized officer of 26
any such bridge, telegraph, telephone, electric power and 27
light companies, electric transmission lines, pipeline 28
companies, or express company or the owner of any such toll 29
bridge, is hereby required to render reports of the pro perty 30
of such bridge, telegraph, telephone, electric power and 31
light companies, electric transmission lines, pipeline 32
companies, or express companies in like manner as the 33
authorized officer of the railroad company is now or may 34
hereafter be required to render for the taxation of railroad 35
property. 36
3. On or before the fifteenth day of April in the year 37
1946 and each year thereafter an authorized officer of each 38
such company shall furnish the state tax commission and 39
county clerks a report, du ly subscribed and sworn to by such 40
authorized officer, which is like in nature and purpose to 41
the reports required of railroads under chapter 151 showing 42
the full amount of all real and tangible personal property 43
owned, used, leased or otherwise contro lled by each such 44
company on January first of the year in which the report is 45
due. 46
4. If any telephone company assessed pursuant to 47
chapter 153 has a microwave relay station or stations in a 48
county in which it has no wire mileage but has wire mil eage 49
in another county, then, for purposes of apportioning the 50
assessed value of the distributable property of such 51
companies, the straight line distance between such microwave 52
relay stations shall constitute miles of wire. In the event 53
that any public utility company assessed pursuant to this 54
chapter has no distributable property which physically 55
traverses the counties in which it operates, then the 56 SB 213 8
assessed value of the distributable property of such company 57
shall be apportioned to the physical location of the 58
distributable property. 59
5. (1) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the 60
contrary, beginning January 1, 2019, a telephone company 61
shall make a one-time election within the tax year to be 62
assessed: 63
(a) Using the methodolog y for property tax purposes as 64
provided under this section; or 65
(b) Using the methodology for property tax purposes as 66
provided under this section for property consisting of land 67
and buildings and be assessed for all other property 68
exclusively using the methodology utilized under section 69
137.122. 70
If a telephone company begins operations, including a merger 71
of multiple telephone companies, after August 28, 2018, it 72
shall make its one-time election to be assessed using the 73
methodology for propert y tax purposes as described under 74
paragraph (b) of subdivision (1) of this subsection within 75
the year in which the telephone company begins its 76
operations. A telephone company that fails to make a timely 77
election shall be deemed to have elected to be assessed 78
using the methodology for property tax purposes as provided 79
under subsections 1 to 4 of this section. 80
(2) The provisions of this subsection shall not be 81
construed to change the original assessment jurisdiction of 82
the state tax commission . 83
(3) Nothing in subdivision (1) of this subsection 84
shall be construed as applying to any other utility. 85
(4) (a) The provisions of this subdivision shall 86
ensure that school districts may avoid any fiscal impact as 87 SB 213 9
a result of a telephone co mpany being assessed under the 88
provisions of paragraph (b) of subdivision (1) of this 89
subsection. If a school district's current operating levy 90
is below the greater of its most recent voter -approved tax 91
rate or the most recent voter -approved tax rate as adjusted 92
under subdivision (2) of subsection 5 of section 137.073, it 93
shall comply with section 137.073. 94
(b) Beginning January 1, 2019, any school district 95
currently operating at a tax rate equal to the greater of 96
the most recent voter -approved tax rate or the most recent 97
voter-approved tax rate as adjusted under subdivision (2) of 98
subsection 5 of section 137.073 that receives less tax 99
revenue from a specific telephone company under this 100
subsection, on or before January thirty -first of the year 101
following the tax year in which the school district received 102
less revenue from a specific telephone company, may by 103
resolution of the school board impose a fee, as determined 104
under this subsection, in order to obtain such revenue. The 105
resolution shall include all facts that support the 106
imposition of the fee. If the school district receives 107
voter approval to raise its tax rate, the district shall no 108
longer impose the fee authorized in this paragraph. 109
(c) Any fee imposed under paragraph ( b) of this 110
subdivision shall be determined by taking the difference 111
between the tax revenue the telephone company paid in the 112
tax year in question and the tax revenue the telephone 113
company would have paid in such year had it not made an 114
election under subdivision (1) of this subsection, which 115
shall be calculated by taking the telephone company 116
valuations in the tax year in question, as determined by the 117
state tax commission under paragraph (d) of this 118
subdivision, and applying such valuations to th e 119 SB 213 10
apportionment process in subsection 2 of section 151.150. 120
The school district shall issue a billing, as provided in 121
this subdivision, to any such telephone company. A 122
telephone company shall have forty -five days after receipt 123
of a billing to remit its payment of its portion of the fees 124
to the school district. Notwithstanding any other provision 125
of law, the issuance or receipt of such fee shall not be 126
used: 127
a. In determining the amount of state aid that a 128
school district receives under se ction 163.031; 129
b. In determining the amount that may be collected 130
under a property tax levy by such district; or 131
c. For any other purpose. 132
For the purposes of accounting, a telephone company that 133
issues a payment to a school district under th is subsection 134
shall treat such payment as a tax. 135
(d) When establishing the valuation of a telephone 136
company assessed under paragraph (b) of subdivision (1) of 137
this subsection, the state tax commission shall also 138
determine the difference between t he assessed value of a 139
telephone company if: 140
a. Assessed under paragraph (b) of subdivision (1) of 141
this subsection; and 142
b. Assessed exclusively under subsections 1 to 4 of 143
this section. 144
The state tax commission shall then apportion such amount to 145
each county and provide such information to any school 146
district making a request for such information. 147
(e) This subsection shall expire when no school 148
district is eligible for a fee. 149 SB 213 11
6. (1) If any public utility company assessed 150
pursuant to this chapter has ownership of any real or 151
personal property associated with a project which uses solar 152
or wind energy directly to generate electricity, such solar 153
or wind energy project property shall be valued and taxed by 154
any local authoritie s having jurisdiction under the 155
provisions of chapter 137 and other relevant provisions of 156
the law. 157
(2) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the 158
contrary, beginning January 1, 2020, for any public utility 159
company assessed pursuant to this chap ter which has a wind 160
energy project, such wind energy project shall be assessed 161
using the methodology for real and personal property as 162
provided in this subsection: 163
(a) Any wind energy property of such company shall be 164
assessed upon the county as sessor's local tax rolls; and 165
(b) All other real property, excluding land, or 166
personal property related to the wind energy project shall 167
be assessed using the methodology provided under section 168
137.123. 169
(3) Notwithstanding any other provisio n of law to the 170
contrary, beginning January 1, 2026, for any public utility 171
company assessed under this chapter which has a solar energy 172
project, such solar energy project shall be assessed using 173
the methodology for real and personal property as provid ed 174
in this subsection: 175
(a) Any solar energy property of such company shall be 176
assessed upon the county assessor's local tax rolls; and 177
(b) All other real property, excluding land, or 178
personal property related to the solar energy project shal l 179
be assessed using the methodology provided under section 180
137.124. 181 SB 213 12
7. (1) If any public utility company assessed 182
pursuant to this chapter has ownership of any real or 183
personal property associated with a generation project which 184
was originally constructed utilizing financing authorized 185
pursuant to chapter 100 for construction, upon the transfer 186
of ownership of such property to the public utility company 187
such property shall be valued and taxed by any local 188
authorities having jurisdiction unde r the provisions of 189
chapter 137 and other relevant provisions of law. 190
(2) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the 191
contrary, beginning January 1, 2022, for any public utility 192
company assessed pursuant to this chapter which has 193
ownership of any real or personal property associated with a 194
generation project which was originally constructed 195
utilizing financing authorized pursuant to chapter 100 for 196
construction, upon the transfer of ownership of such 197
property to the public utility company such property shall 198
be assessed as follows: 199
(a) Any property associated with a generation project 200
which was originally constructed utilizing financing 201
authorized pursuant to chapter 100 for construction shall be 202
assessed upon the county assessor's lo cal tax rolls. The 203
assessor shall rely on the public utility company for cost 204
information of the generation portion of the property as 205
found in the public utility company's Federal Energy 206
Regulatory Commission Financial Report Form Number One at 207
the time of transfer of ownership, and depreciate the costs 208
provided in a manner similar to other commercial and 209
industrial property; 210
(b) Any property consisting of land and buildings 211
related to the generation property associated with a 212
generation project which was originally constructed 213 SB 213 13
utilizing financing pursuant to chapter 100 for construction 214
shall be assessed under chapter 137; and 215
(c) All other business or personal property related to 216
a generation project which was originally construct ed 217
utilizing financing pursuant to chapter 100 for construction 218
shall be assessed using the methodology provided under 219
section 137.122. 220
153.034. 1. The term "distributable property" of an 1
electric company shall include all the real or tangible 2
personal property which is used directly in the generation 3
and distribution of electric power, but not property used as 4
a collateral facility nor property held for purposes other 5
than generation and distribution of electricity. Such 6
distributable property includes, but is not limited to: 7
(1) Boiler plant equipment, turbogenerator units and 8
generators; 9
(2) Station equipment; 10
(3) Towers, fixtures, poles, conductors, conduit 11
transformers, services and meters; 12
(4) Substation equipment and fences; 13
(5) Rights-of-way; 14
(6) Reactor, reactor plant equipment, and cooling 15
towers; 16
(7) Communication equipment used for control of 17
generation and distribution of power; 18
(8) Land associated with such distri butable property. 19
2. The term "local property" of an electric company 20
shall include all real and tangible personal property owned, 21
used, leased or otherwise controlled by the electric company 22
not used directly in the generation and distribution of 23
power and not defined in subsection 1 of this section as 24 SB 213 14
distributable property. Such local property includes, but 25
is not limited to: 26
(1) Motor vehicles; 27
(2) Construction work in progress; 28
(3) Materials and supplies; 29
(4) Office furniture, office equipment, and office 30
fixtures; 31
(5) Coal piles and nuclear fuel; 32
(6) Land held for future use; 33
(7) Workshops, warehouses, office buildings and 34
generating plant structures; 35
(8) Communication equipment not used fo r control of 36
generation and distribution of power; 37
(9) Roads, railroads, and bridges; 38
(10) Reservoirs, dams, and waterways; 39
(11) Land associated with other locally assessed 40
property and all generating plant land. 41
3. (1) Any real or tangible personal property 42
associated with a project which uses solar or wind energy 43
directly to generate electricity shall be valued and taxed 44
by local authorities having jurisdiction under the 45
provisions of chapter 137 and any other relevant provi sions 46
of law. The method of taxation prescribed in subsection 2 47
of section 153.030 and subsection 1 of this section shall 48
not apply to such property. 49
(2) The real or tangible personal property referenced 50
in subdivision (1) of this subsection sha ll include all 51
equipment whose sole purpose is to support the integration 52
of a wind generation asset into an existing system. 53
Examples of such property may include, but are not limited 54
to, wind chargers, windmills, wind turbines, wind towers, 55
and associated electrical equipment such as inverters, pad 56 SB 213 15
mount transformers, power lines, storage equipment directly 57
associated with wind generation assets, and substations. 58
(3) The real or tangible personal property referenced 59
in subdivision (1) of th is subsection shall also include all 60
equipment whose sole purpose is to support the integration 61
of a solar generation asset into an existing system. 62
Examples of such property may include, but are not limited 63
to, solar panels, solar panel mounting rack s, and associated 64
electrical equipment such as inverters, battery packs, power 65
meters, power lines, storage equipment directly associated 66
with solar generation assets, and substations. 67
4. For any real or tangible personal property 68
associated with a generation project which was originally 69
constructed utilizing financing authorized under chapter 100 70
for construction, upon the transfer of ownership of such 71
property to a public utility, such property shall be valued 72
and taxed by local authorities having jurisdiction under the 73
provisions of chapter 137 and any other relevant provisions 74
of law. The method of taxation prescribed in subsection 2 75
of section 153.030 and subsection 1 of this section shall 76
not apply to such property. 77
393.172. By March 31, 2026, the public service 1
commission shall adopt rules applicable to electrical 2
corporations that require the entity constructing an 3
electric transmission line under subsection 1 of section 4
393.170 for which permission is sought from the commission 5
on or after the effective date of this section to adhere to 6
standards to be adopted by such rules relating to 7
construction activities occurring partially or wholly on 8
privately owned agricultural land. Such standards shall 9
address, at a minimum, landowner communication expectations, 10
expectations with respect to transmission structure design 11 SB 213 16
and placement, wet weather construction and remediation 12
practices, agricultural mitigation and restoration 13
practices, construction -related tree and brush clearing, 14
expectations concerning the use and restoration of field 15
entrances and temporary roads, and best practices with 16
respect to erosion prevention. Any rule or portion of a 17
rule, as that term is defined in section 536.010, that is 18
created under the authority delegated in this section shall 19
become effective only if it complies with and is subject to 20
all of the provisions of chapter 536 and, if applicable, 21
section 536.028. This section and chapter 536 are 22
nonseverable and if an y of the powers vested with the 23
general assembly pursuant to chapter 536 to review, to delay 24
the effective date, or to disapprove and annul a rule are 25
subsequently held unconstitutional, then the grant of 26
rulemaking authority and any rule proposed or a dopted after 27
August 28, 2025, shall be invalid and void. 28