Protect jobs and consumers, not utility profits
AmerenUE
A Missouri Senate committee is to vote this afternoon on a revised — but still deeply flawed — utility bill that was written to benefit the state’s largest electric company.
AmerenUE has applied for a federal permit to build a new nuclear reactor in Callaway County. Whether you think that’s a good idea or not — whether you support nuclear power or oppose it — SB 228 is a bad bill, and not just for AmerenUE customers. Here are some of the whys:
• It would allow electric companies — not just AmerenUE, but every utility company that builds a new power plant — to get automatic rate increases every three months without having to hold hearings to justify the higher prices.
• Over the 10 years of construction for AmerenUE’s new nuclear plant, rates would increase between 29 percent and 40 percent, according to an estimate by the Missouri Public Counsel’s office, which represents utility customers before the Missouri Public Service Commission. That increase, coming during a recession and before the plant produces its first watt of electricity, could drive some businesses into bankruptcy and further depress the state economy.
• The bill would hamstring the PSC by setting artificially short timelines to make decisions and prohibit later action if new information came to light. Those changes would prevent the PSC from effective oversight of the construction — a role it has played for decades.
• Risk of bad decisions or negligence by utility executives later could result in higher plant construction costs that would be shifted entirely onto ratepayers. If delicate machinery had to be ripped out and reinstalled — as has happened during construction at some American nuclear reactors — you pay the bill.
• Ratepayers also would be stuck with the bill if AmerenUE or any other utility decides to abandon plans to build a new plant. That’s a considerable risk; fewer than half the nuclear reactors proposed in the United States actually have been built. And those costs can be considerable. AmerenUE already has spent more than $60 million on its application to build the nuclear plant.
• While the utility can ask that rates be increased when a new plant goes on line, the PSC cannot decrease rates after construction work is complete.
The version of SB 228 that will be voted on today was written by Sen. Kurt Schaefer, R-Columbia. During public hearings last month, he criticized what he called “serious flaws” in the original bill.
But Mr. Schaefer’s so-called compromise version doesn’t address most of the problems he identified. The only thing it compromises are consumer protections.
Perhaps that’s why SB 228 has attracted so much opposition from groups that normally have nothing in common. They include advocates for residential electric consumers, large industrial customers, environmental groups that oppose nuclear power and even Public Counsel Lewis Mills. An analysis performed for Mr. Mills’ office estimated that repealing existing law would add considerable cost for ratepayers.
Opponents of SB 228 began running television ads over the weekend urging senators to reject the bill.
AmerenUE immediately went to court, asking that the ads be prohibited from airing. But a federal judge refused to act.
The utility had argued that consumers would be “confused” because the ads featured the company’s logo. But electric customers — and voters — are more sophisticated than that.
Several of the groups behind those ads had sought a compromise with AmerenUE. They offered to give the utility the financial returns it needed during construction, but only if it agreed to maintain important consumer protections. AmerenUE refused.
The utility continues to insist that it will not build a new power plant to supply future electric needs unless the law is changed to its liking.
AmerenUE has it exactly wrong. It is electric customers, not the utility, that build new power plants. AmerenUE and other electric companies only manage the construction paid by ratepayers.
Members of the Senate commerce committee should reject SB 228 today. If they persist in pushing a fatally flawed bill, Gov. Jay Nixon should promise a veto.
I’m all for nuclear power.
I really don’t pretend to know whether it’s right
or wrong to let a utility company start charging
ratepayers for the construction of a generating
facility before it cranks out it’s first megawatt
of power.
What I do understand is that anyone who would
authorize a utility which cannot successfully
operate a low mountain-top power storage
impoundment without nearly creating a human
disaster and without creating a disaster
for a popular recreation site to build more reactor capacity is a little goofy.
I do understand that anyone who would authorize
a utility which caused several large-scale out[r]ages
with it’s blatant long-term neglect of transmission infrastructure is just plain insane.
That’s what I understand. Let some other utility
build more nuclear generation capacity and sell
Damneren U.E. the power their facility makes.
I wouldn’t trust them with a tank of
propane, much less a nuclear power plant. They’ve
got the one–that ought to be taken out of their hands and sold to some independent contractor who sells them the power it makes.
Their big response to their several ridiculously
long and widespread out[r]ages was a huge PR
campaign which was really more in the nature of a bribe campaign aimed at the same advertising outlets which also are responsible for accurately reporting “news”–like news about how fast the wind was blowing when the power went out, for instance…
Can we say “conflict of interest”?
Damneren U.E. sucks.
When their mexicans came through my yard to trim
trees near the right-of-way and when I finally found one who spoke english, I told them to go on and trim the whole top out of a tree on my property which could easily fall over on the wires and take them down.
Their response was that they didn’t trim anything outside of ten feet from the wire–even though the saw-monkey was already up in the damn thing and it would have taken very little effort at that point to insure that tree would not fall on those wires.
Then the “supervisor” with his thick mexican accent came around and offered to come back later after work and do a little “side job” if I wanted the tree topped…
I told him to go eat some botched beans.
Then I dragged everything they’d cut out to the street because I didn’t want their scum-bag asses on my property anymore.
Damneren U.E. has no business running any nuclear anything–they shouldn’t even be allowed to have an old-style Americium ionizing type smoke detector.
The PD is worried about protecting jobs? This from the company that lays people off here in St Louis and ships their jobs to India. What hypocrites. Just a bunch of no-talent clowns.
Admit it PD…You are a “tree hugger”, one of the liberal group that HATES the idea of nuclear power. Do you think we will light our lights, air conditioners,stoves, etc with solar power? You and your silly friends have made it so expensive to get thru the regulations and build a nucear plant that something like this plan is necessary. Wake up.
Guess the PD Editorial Board didn’t pay much attention in business class. The supply of jobs increase when higher profits are higher, not from a liberal utopian idea that people should be employed no matter how poor a company is performing financially.
PD editorial board,
I have alot of problems with your lib paper to begin with which is why I will not ever buy a copy. However, I want to address some points made in this story.
“deeply flawed” - this is outright opinion not fact. Present the facts let your readers decide if the the bill is flawed. This is why papers are going out of business - they spew their liberal agenda and the public has been getting plenty of that for years from all the big boys so the public (most) refuse to support such trash.
“29-40% increase” - So its ok for Obama to try to force down the radical environmental programs that will bankrupt many businesses and raise our utility prices and taxes at least that much, with unproven alternatives but asking the public to support a nuclear facility does not makes sense? Come on PD once again your agenda is obvious and what party (communist) you support is obvious. Government forced realinement of our country is good eh? Of course big business is evil and never up to anything but evil.
“60 million in application” - Yes unbelievable all the red tape / costs a company must go through to pay off corrupt politicians to get any energy program up and running. You know what, I bet if we eliminated the federal government the total application fee would be less than a milllion and it would be much more comprehensive in oversight regulation via the state.
“voters are sophisticated” - again, come on PD you survive on the ignorance of the general public. That is the only reason the paper is still around. People suck up your liberal driven agenda and spew it back out with their votes - how else do you explain the Obama presidency. Honestly, Obama is the anti-christ of democracy. I have never seen such a socialist / communist driven agenda in the history of our coutry. Venezuela yes but not in America.
“Ameren has it wrong” - Hey I think your coming around all of sudden. You mean the people control the government not the other way around. I think you should send an email to Obama immediately because he seems very confused about who is in charge. The government is a servant to the wishes of the people not the other way around. Currently too many of my fellow Americans, actually I really can’t call them Americans, I mean the socialist living among us, are experiencing the biggest power trip in their lives. Thank you PD for supporting their cause.
Summary - Unfornately I can’t trust a thing I read in the PD. PD you need some inner reflection as to how you manage your paper or you will be out of business very soon as well.
If we are going to get rid of the CO2 belching coal plants in this country, we need nuclear power. It is the ONLY viable alternative to fossil fuels that can be used anywhere, anytime. We are all paying via tax dollars for ethanol research and so forth, yet no one at the P-D gives a hoot about that. But help Ameren build a greenhouse gas-free power plant? The P-D hates that.
The lack of consistency by the nameless editorial board is staggering sometimes…
PD editorial board,
I have alot of problems with your lib paper to begin with which is why I will never buy a copy. However, I want to address some points made in this story.
“deeply flawed” - this is outright opinion not fact. Present the facts let your readers decide if the the bill is flawed. This is why papers are going out of business - they spew their liberal agenda and the public has been getting plenty of that for years from all the big boys so the public (most) refuse to support such trash.
“29-40% increase” - So its ok for Obama to try to force down the radical environmental programs that will bankrupt many businesses and raise our utility prices and taxes at least that much, with unproven alternatives but asking the public to support a nuclear facility does not makes sense? Come on PD once again your agenda is obvious and what party (communist) you support is obvious. Government forced realinement of our country is good eh? Of course big business is evil and never up to anything but evil.
“60 million in application” - Yes unbelievable all the red tape / costs a company must go through to pay off corrupt politicians to get any energy program up and running. You know what, I bet if we eliminated the federal government the total application fee would be less than a milllion and it would be much more comprehensive in oversight regulation via the state.
“voters are sophisticated” - again, come on PD you survive on the ignorance of the general public. That is the only reason the paper is still around. People suck up your liberal driven agenda and spew it back out with their votes - how else do you explain the Obama presidency. Honestly, Obama is the anti-christ of democracy. I have never seen such a socialist / communist driven agenda in the history of our coutry. Venezuela yes but not in America.
“Ameren has it wrong” - Hey I think your coming around all of sudden. You mean the people control the government not the other way around. I think you should send an email to Obama immediately because he seems very confused about who is in charge. The government is a servant to the wishes of the people not the other way around. Currently too many of my fellow Americans, actually I really can’t call them Americans, I mean the socialist living among us, are experiencing the biggest power trip in their lives. Thank you PD for supporting their cause.
Summary - Unfornately I can’t trust a thing I read in the PD. PD you need some inner reflection as to how you manage your paper or you will be out of business very soon as well.
Sorry about the duplication of message….I did not mean to do so!
Ameren customers need to just get used to it. You need to acquaint yourselves with Obama’s Cap & Trade bill working it’s way through Congress. To quote Obama,”Utility bills will necessarily skyrocket.” Ameren is trying to get ahead of Obama’s cap & trade policy which will bankrupt all of us by taxing carbon emissions. God save us from global warming terrorists, COMRADE!!!!
What?? The P-D hates knowing consumers will pay more for a product? What about tobacco??
Oh, that’s right…its Bush’s fault………lol