By Marshall Griffin, KWMU
Jefferson City, MO – A Missouri House committee has passed legislation that would allow utility companies to charge their customers for the cost of building new nuclear plants while under construction.
St. Louis-based AmerenUE is lobbying for the bill, in the hopes of building a second nuclear reactor at its plant near Fulton.
The bill that would revise the Construction Work in Progress law (CWIP) passed by a near unanimous vote, after a number of reforms were added.
State Representative Ed Emery (R, Lamar) sponsors the bill and chairs the House Utilities Committee. He says one key reform would grant the Public Service Commission six months instead of just three to sign off on any proposed new plant.
"And then when they actually come back in with their strategy for construction, that would include the detail(s) all the way down to actually naming the contractors, that will extend to a 12-month period," Emery said.
Another reform would require utilities to spread out payments for any abandoned projects over a longer period of time, which would lighten the load reflected on a customer's monthly power bill.
State Representative Trent Skaggs (D, Kansas City) cast the lone "no" vote.
"In 1976, the voters voted on this provision, and it passed with over 75 percent of the vote that they did not want this process to take place...and now we are overturning the will of the people and how they voted in 1976," Skaggs said.
The bill is not scheduled to come before the full House before the legislative spring break, which begins after lawmakers adjourn on March 12th.