Consumers Council of Missouri

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Senators grilled AmerenUE leaders during a hearing Tuesday on legislation allowing utilities to charge electric customers for the costs of new power plants before they come online.

Missouri law bars investor-owned utilities from passing the expenses of building a power plant to their customers before the facility starts producing electricity.

Ameren is considering construction of a second nuclear reactor at its Callaway County power plant and says repealing the 1976 state law is critical to financing the estimated $6 billion project.

A large crowd attended Tuesday’s Senate Commerce, Consumer Protection, Energy and the Environment Committee hearing on the legislation, which would apply to new plants powered by nuclear energy, renewable sources or new coal technology.  Please click here to read the entire AP story by Chris Blank.

A state Senate committee is scheduled to begin hearings today on a deeply flawed bill that would remove key consumer protections for utility customers.

The measure, Senate Bill 228, would repeal a 1976 law that prohibits utilities from charging for the cost of building a new power plant until it starts generating electricity.

SB 228 is designed to benefit utility giant AmerenUE, which has applied to build a new nuclear plant in Callaway County. Whether or not you think that new plant is a good idea — whether you favor nuclear energy or oppose it — SB 228 is a bad bill. Click here and let the St. Louis Post-Dispatch editorial board count the ways.