St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Can’t afford to pick up the tab for Noranda
State Rep. Genise Montecillo • D-St. Louis
In an article March 11 on stltoday.com, the headline read: Ameren rate case becomes forum for new economic development proposal. This couldn’t be a more apt description of what is wrong with the current proceedings at the Missouri Public Service Commission.
Though the PSC rebuffed them twice over the summer, through Ameren’s current rate case, one company, Noranda Aluminum, continues to seek economic incentives worth well over $500 million to be paid for on the backs of Missouri consumers. Such an economic development package — or more appropriately, massive corporate giveaway — deserves not just the scrutiny of the PSC but a full review by the Legislature.
My constituents in the 92nd District, who are all Ameren customers, will directly feel the impact of such a proposal, and that is unacceptable to me. It is unconscionable that Noranda could lead an effort to secure a half-billion-dollar benefit for themselves at the expense of Missouri taxpayers, circumventing the Legislature in the process.
