Edward Smith, edward.smith@sierraclub.org
Jefferson City, Mo – As predicted by Sierra Club last week, the Missouri House of Representatives fast-tracked unpopular legislation that will increase utility bills by more than $1,000 annually. The bill now goes to Governor Kehoe, who will sign it into law amid Trump’s trade wars that are increasing costs for all Americans.
The House of Representatives expedited the bill because leadership knows it is unpopular with the public. Sending the legislation back to the Senate with House amendments could weaken its chances of passing, which is why House leadership didn’t allow a single amendment in committee or on the floor before its passage.
The combination of provisions in Senate Bill 4 undermines decades of utility ratemaking rules that balanced both consumer protection and monopoly utility interests. A few of those provisions include forcing captive monopoly utility customers to pay for construction of gas plants before a service is provided, allowing utilities to predict future demand instead of evaluating historic trends, and adding unnecessary red tape when a coal plant closes, all of which will needlessly increase utility bills.
The legislature is once again overriding the will of the voters who said in 1976 that they do not want to be charged with the cost of building power plants that aren’t yet serving them and may never be finished.
Statement from Jenn DeRose, Missouri Senior Organizer with the Sierra Club:
“This bill will financially harm families and businesses because increasing electric bills several years before a power plant begins producing power will drive up the price of everything, from eggs to electronics and beyond. Shifting the risk of power plant construction from monopoly utility shareholders to captive customers in order to pay for power plants that will mostly serve data centers is not clever economic development, it’s corporate welfare on the backs of hard-working Missourians and it’s wrong. Voters will not forget who unnecessarily increased their utility bills during the next election.”
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.