Help Us Urge Legislators to Take Action and Keep Nuclear an Option for Missouri
On Monday, our legislators will return to the Capitol for the final seven weeks of this year’s legislative session. As they set their priorities for rest of the session, we hope you will join us in continuing to urge them to consider Missouri’s energy future. Despite the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan, a Fox News poll, conducted by Anderson Robbins Research/Shaw & Company Research on March 14 – 16, found that a majority of American voters continue to support the use of nuclear power in the U.S. And we at Missourians for a Balanced Energy Future, like you, remain convinced that nuclear power must remain an option for our state’s energy future.
Keeping open the option for new nuclear power is vital to Missouri’s future. Senate Bill 321 does just that, and, in turn, preserves the opportunity to create thousands of new jobs and contribute billions of dollars to our state’s economy.
But it is important that the right nuclear site permit bill move forward in the Senate. Unfortunately, the opponents of Senate Bill 321 have filed Senate Bill 406, legislation that they purport will keep the option of nuclear open. In reality, the bill ensures that a second nuclear power plant will NOT be constructed in Missouri.
Senate Bill 406, sponsored by President Pro Tem Rob Mayer and Sen. Jason Crowell, does not provide either the certainty or level of protections needed to preserve nuclear energy as an option for our state. Even more alarmingly, SB406 includes a new tax on all Missourians to pay for increased government bureaucracy.
Below is an overview of some of the issues with SB406:
It will add a new tax onto every utility bill, totaling more than $4 million per year to fund the Office of Public Counsel. The bill does not allow appropriate budget oversight of these funds to ensure they are being spent prudently. Senate Bill 321 does notinclude this tax increase.
Interest cost calculations are unclear. Senate Bill 406 does not indicate how interest costs would be calculated, which leaves ratepayers open to uncertainty and increased risk. Senate Bill 321 allows the recovery of costs of the site permit after a prudence review. SB321 ultimately saves ratepayers $80 million in interest costs.
Consumer protections are unnecessarily weak. Senate Bill 406 does not ensure that all costs – including interest – be returned to consumers if the site permit is sold or transferred to another company. Senate Bill 321 clearly states that interest costs be returned to ratepayers, should the permit be sold or transferred or if the plant is not constructed.
Creates an unrealistic timeline – 10 years – for completing a nuclear plant. Forcing the coalition of electricity providers to comply with a 10-year timeline encourages the potential for safety and construction shortcuts, which is absolutely unacceptable. This forced timeline would ensure that Missouri will be unable to keep nuclear power as an option.
Senate Bill 406 is an inadequate bill that does nothing to preserve the option for nuclear power in our state. In fact, it accomplishes just the opposite: SB 406 ensures that nuclear power will no longer be an option for Missouri. Last week, during a hearing on these bills, 250 Missourians testified on behalf of SB 321; only 11 spoke on behalf of SB406.
Please join us in urging our legislators to do everything in their power to pass HB124/SB321 and ensure that the SB406 tax increase does not move forward. Click here to take action today.
