Kelly suggests special session for Ameren bill
With the fate of the Callaway nuclear plant bill in question, members of the Missouri House are calling on the governor to consider a special session to hammer out a deal.
The legislation in question is a bill that would help Ameren Missouri get financing to construct a second nuclear power plant in Callaway County. The bill has been held up in a state Senate committee that has not held a hearing in more than a month.
The project could help attract jobs to the state, said State Rep. Chris Kelly, D-Columbia, as well help to increase the state’s energy output.
Last year, Gov. Jay Nixon called a special session after an economic incentives bill aiming to keep a Ford manufacturing plant in Claycomo failed to pass in the final days of the regular session. The plan to build a nuclear power plant is “five times bigger” in terms of economic development, Kelly said.
“It is the most economically important issue facing the state by a long shot,” Kelly said.
The bill, sponsored by Sen. Mike Kehoe, R-Jefferson City, would allow Ameren to increase bills for ratepayers so it can purchase a site permit from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The bill includes a “clawback” provision that would require Ameren to refund any money it receives from a rate increase, if the company decides to sell off the site permit. The bill also would increase funding for the Office of Public Counsel, which represents ratepayers in utility cases, and include a $45 million cap on how much the company can collect from rate increases to fund the project.
But the bill has come under fire from heavy energy users such as Anheuser-Busch and Noranda Aluminum for the additional costs Ameren could levy upon their operations as the result of a rate increase. Kehoe’s bill is held up in a committee chaired by Sen. Jason Crowell, R-Cape Girardeau, whose constituency includes Noranda employees.
The language in Kehoe’s bill was tacked onto a utilities bill sponsored by Sen. Robin Wright-Jones, D-St. Louis, but this week Senate President Pro Tem Rob Mayer, R-Dexter, shot down that bill, calling it out of order.
Kelly said the senators in that dispute are fighting for the companies that are part of their constituencies, but he said it is Ameren that has been unwavering in its position in negotiations over the legislation, which has complicated the process.
Kelly said considering the fact that its project could cost as much as $10 billion, Ameren should be more willing to give a little to appease the opposing parties.
Irl Scissors, executive director of Missourians for a Balanced Energy Future, a lobbying group that is supporting the bill, said he is optimistic a bill can be passed by the legislature before the end of the session.
Scissors also disagreed with Kelly’s view that Ameren has been unwilling to compromise in negotiations over the bill. The Fair Electric Rate Action Fund, a lobbying group of which Anheuser-Busch and Noranda are members, had pushed for the consumer protection elements contained in Kehoe’s bill.
Kelly said he knows the plan would be able to attract a majority vote from both chambers if brought out for a full vote. He also said the General Assembly should pass a bill that puts the decision to voters.
“We ought to have the good sense to ask them instead of just shoving it down their throats,” Kelly said.
House Speaker Steve Tilley, R-Perryville, said Kelly’s reasons for a special session — the size of the investment, the jobs it would create and the need to move ahead — are valid. But he noted that the legislation under consideration is only for a site permit, not for actual construction.
“I am a supporter of Ameren’s plan for a nuclear plant in Callaway County,” Tilley said. “I would encourage the Senate to take up the bill and get it done.”
-Andrew Denney
