When it comes to nuclear power, gubernatorial candidates Jay Nixon and Kenny Hulshof seem to be reading from the same script.

 I asked both of them yesterday at the ham breakfast where they stood on Ameren UE’s plans to build a second nuclear reactor at their Callaway County facility. Both were supportive.

But the key to the issue, which will be a very important debate next year, is how each candidate feels about Missouri’s Construction Work In Progress law.

Under Missouri law, power companies cannot begin collecting fees from consumers for the construction of a power plant until the plant is up and running and producing power for those consumers.

Ameren UE says there’s no way it can finance its proposed new nuclear plant, which will cost in the $6 billion range, without help from consumers while the plant is being built. The company argues that the cost of financing, without the additional rates, will ultimately cost consumers more and be a risk investors won’t take without the higher rates in place.

So for the plant to be built, Ameren has already begun lobbying legislators to consider changing Missouri’s CWIP rules. So where do Hulshof and Nixon, who could affect the process, stand on that issue?

Nixon: “If we move forward, clearly that law will have to be looked at.” (Nixon also said that it would be important for consumers to be protected in some way.)

Hulshof: “I support Ameren UE’s expansion of their nuclear capacity. Beyond that, we need to have a discussion.” Asked to clarify his position on CWIP, Hulshof repeated the first sentence.

Clearly, both candidates realize that as governor, they will play an important role in moving the issue of the nuclear plant forward. Such a facility would be an important part of Missouri’s energy equation, not to mention a huge economic development engine for years.

Their lack of commitment to a firm answer on CWIP most definitely opens the door for some very interesting legislative debate on the issue come January.