AmerenUE backs legislation to increase rates

Legislators in Missouri are divided about the bill.

By Greg Young

Published March 2, 2009

Certain groups and legislators in Missouri are divided about a bill that would remove spending constraints from power plants.

AmerenUE, a St. Louis-based utilities provider that has planned to build a second nuclear power plant in Callaway County, has backed a piece of legislation that would allow the company to charge its customers a higher rate to pay for the plant during its construction.

The bill, which is in committee in the Missouri House and Senate, would eliminate a 1976 bill that prevents companies from paying a higher rate while construction is still in progress.

The bill, called the Missouri Clean and Renewable Energy Construction Act, has companion bills in the House and the Senate. On Tuesday, the bill will be voted on in the House Utilities Committee and will be heard in the Senate Commerce, Consumer Protection Energy and the Environment Committee.

On Friday, Gov. Jay Nixon refused to take a clear position on the two bills.

"It is premature at this time to saddle ratepayers with potential construction costs before regulators have awarded a permit and Ameren has made the decision to build," Nixon said in a news release.

Supporters of the bill, such as bill sponsor Sen. Delbert Scott, R-Lowry City, argue another nuclear power plant in Calloway County would eventually reduce the cost of energy consumers in the long term and produces energy without the harmful pollution of coal.

"We have to move to a certain kind of clean energy, and nuclear energy is the least cost option at this time," Delbert's Chief of Staff Charlie Ballard said.

Some legislators, including Sen. Kurt Schaefer, R-Columbia, were concerned about the lack of consumer protection in the initial version of the bill.

But Rep. Ed Emery, R-Lamar, said the most recent version of the House bill includes most of the concerns Schaefer and other legislators had about consumer protections. The bill is expected to come to a vote in the Utilities Committee, of which Emery is the chairman.

"We have made a number of changes to the bill to make sure the language does what we want it to do," Emery said.

Senate Majority Caucus spokeswoman Farrah Fite said the Senate bill would likely be voted on next week.

Supporters of the bill also argue the plant's construction could create jobs. Ballard said an estimated 400 long-term jobs could be created by the construction of another power plant.

The Missouri AFL-CIO said Friday the short-term construction jobs that would be created in the building of a new power plant would have beneficial economic impact in the short term.

"This project is vital to the working men and women of Missouri," AFL-CIO President Hugh McVey said in a news release. "Over 3,000 construction jobs will be created, providing good paying jobs with healthcare benefits to working families."

Some environmental groups, including the Missouri Coalition for the Environment, were skeptical about the effectiveness of job creation in the building of a new power plant.

"There are often delays and all sorts of mistakes with nuclear plants," said Erin Noble, the energy policy coordinator for the Missouri Coalition for the Environment.

Emery said he has had no direct communication with the governor's staff yet, despite trying for three weeks to set something up. But Emery expressed optimism that Nixon would support the final version of the legislation that would come out of the House and the Senate.

"It addresses many of the concerns he has," Emery said. "I think we will put a bill on his desk that he is likely to sign."