Midwest Energy News: Despite court decision, Missouri solar fight may continue
Seven years after Missouri voters passed a renewable-energy standard, the last of the solar rebates promised under the law are coming to fruition.
As of May 16, customers of the Empire District Electric Co. in southwest Missouri finally will have access to the rebates required by Proposition C, a referendum passed in 2008.
They’ve been put on hold since then because even before the renewable energy law was approved by a 2 to 1 margin, the utility persuaded the Missouri General Assembly to pass a law that would exempt it from the requirements.
Renew Missouri and the Missouri Coalition for the Environment, non-profits that advocate for clean energy, challenged the exemption and won before the Missouri Supreme Court on Feb. 10. In approving the rebate rates on Wednesday, the Missouri Public Service Commission put the court’s decision into effect.
Although pleased that Empire soon will be offering rebates to customers wishing to install solar panels – as well as those who’ve done so in the past few years – Renew Missouri’s P.J. Wilson said he suspects that the utility may look for ways to cut short the rebate payments.
Missouri utilities may cease paying rebates when they report that their expenditures on solar rebates have caused rates to increase by more than 1 percent. Two of the state’s other investor-owned utilities, Ameren Missouri and Kansas City Power & Light-Greater Missouri Operations terminated their rebate payments in late 2013 about four years after they began paying them. Kansas City Power & Light still has some rebate funds available.
Given Empire’s historically hostile stance regarding renewable energy, Wilson said, “We are being vigilant about that.”
