Missourians for Safe Energy works against AmerenUE plant

AmerenUE works to finance the construction of its Callaway Unit 2 plant.

By Brendan Gibbons

Published Oct. 3, 2008

Energy company AmerenUE's hope of building another nuclear power plant in nearby Callaway County does not make sense or cents for Missouri citizens, a local grassroots energy group said.

Missourians for Safe Energy co-founder Mark Haim warned listeners at a Wednesday meeting in the Arts and Science building about the risks of nuclear power and the need to invest in sustainable energy sources. Missouri's largest energy company, AmerenUE, is working to finance the construction of its Callaway Unit 2 plant, which would be the second of such plants in the area.

AmerenUE submitted its application July 24 to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to build a $6 billion dollar nuclear plant on the same location as its Callaway Unit 1 plant, 25 miles west of Jefferson City.

Haim accused AmerenUE of lobbying to overturn legislation prohibiting energy consumers from paying for the plant while it remains a construction work in progress.

"They're trying to get a blank check," Haim said.

Missouri voters approved legislation in 1972 to protect utility bill payers from being charged for the construction costs of power plants.

However, this legislation caused a much greater financial burden to ratepayers in the long run, AmerenUE spokesman Mike Cleary said. Instead, the company favors a pay-as-you-go approach, which would shift costs to customers during the plant's construction.

"It's mainly to reduce the financing cost while the plant is under construction," Cleary said, adding that the initiative to rewrite the law is receiving support by legislators.

Haim said AmerenUE would not support the construction of the plant if the legislation stays, referring to a June interview with AmerenUE chief executive Thomas Voss for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

In that report, Voss said the risk of building the second plant in Callaway County on credit would be too great and would not receive approval from lenders, stockholders and the company's board of directors.

"They've been very public about their intent," Haim said. "I feel it's going to take an outcry from the grassroots to keep it from being repealed."

Haim asked attendants to sign a petition to protest AmerenUE's attempts to support legislation that would overturn the 1972 law. The group's Web site also includes a petition for sustainable energy.

The group supports increasing energy efficiency and using renewable energy sources like hydroelectric power and biomass fuel instead of nuclear energy, Haim said.

"Our energy future is really for us to decide," Haim said. "What's best for us is using less energy and being more efficient."

In the meantime, AmerenUE must pass U.S. NRC safety and environmental reviews of its 8,000-page application for licensure to build the plant. If approved, construction is projected to begin April 2012.