The Missouri Times: Ameren, Noranda fight for grid modernization bill
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – A bill offered by Rep. Rocky Miller, R-Lake Ozark, primarily seeking to modernize the state’s electricity grid has set utilities companies at odds with many consumers in the state. Miller hopes the bill will streamline utility upgrades.
The stated design of HB 2816, billed as the “21st Century Grid Modernization and Security Act,” is to allow for the imposition of earnings caps, rate caps, performance standards and other consumer protections when provided power by electrical corporations; encourage investment in Missouri’s electrical infrastructure, and provide competitive rates for high energy-use customers.
Miller said the bill would make the process easier for utilities companies by cutting back on some regulations by the Public Service Commission (PSC) while providing protections for consumers across the state.
“[The bill] allows for electric utilities to use a newer version of rate structures,” Miller said. “What I want it to do is be a streamlining of the current public service structure instead of waiting for a review when they get around to the PSC.”
Representatives from Ameren, the state’s largest power supplier, said the bill was a way to help push Missouri past its deteriorating grid and infrastructure.
“If Missouri continues to stand still, we will continue to lose ground and lose 21st century companies,” Vice President of External Affairs at Ameren Warren Wood said.
One consumer that testified in favor of the bill, however, was Noranda, the aluminum smelting company in Southeast Missouri that filed for bankruptcy in February.
The latter part of the bill also has more language that would give Noranda more favorable rates. Mike Griffin, a vice president for the company, said that electricity expenditures made up 30 to 40 percent of Noranda’s costs and that lower rates could be the only thing that might save the company.
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