Power Profile: Rep. Travis Fitzwater
Energy policy and utility issues are a “big deal” to the community close to Missouri’s lone nuclear power plant, the area represented by Rep. Travis Fitzwater. As such, when first elected in 2014, the lawmaker found it important to be involved in discussions relating to utility policy. Today, Fitzwater chairs the House Utilities Committee.
“It’s an interesting committee, it is just complex,” Fitzwater (R- 49, Holts Summit) said. “Other committees are more straight-forward, but with utility issues, there are so many references to other statutes, so many regulated pieces to our energy environment that it takes time to wrap our minds around it.”
During his time in the General Assembly so far, the biggest piece of utility legislation passed by both chambers was SB 564 in 2018. The bill, which Fitzwater voted in favor of, was the catalyst for Ameren Missouri's Smart Energy Plan.
The bill - now law - allowed for a statewide update to the energy grid, expedited tax cut savings, and saves customers money, Fitzwater noted.
"Cybersecurity was always a big issue, so having a grid that is updated and that couldn’t be cut off at certain points and be a problem is crucial for what we are dealing with," he added.
Fitzwater stated that “investment in a smart grid is going to help us in the future,” particularly from a technology standpoint.
“Technology is revolutionizing how we do business across the spectrum but especially in the energy field,” he said. With the upgrades Ameren Missouri is installing, “the fact that utility companies can keep the power on almost 100 percent of the time is unbelievable.”
Ameren Missouri's Smart Energy Plan has also sparked an idea of how to get broadband internet access to rural communities: use the infrastructure Ameren Missouri is currently building. That idea, now HB 2302, is being championed by Fitzwater in the House.
"We are using something that is already being built out. The smart grid is being built out and it is going to go to areas that typically do not have high-speed internet. So, if you can lease out some of the fiber optics, then take those leased dollars and give them back to the utility customers, I think that is a smart way to go about building out broadband," Fitzwater said. "[HB 2302] is trying to get broadband access to areas that have typically not had it in the past. This is just a common-sense way to do it: Using the infrastructure that is already going to be built out on the smart grid to fill those gaps."
He noted there is a "real possibility" for the legislation to cross the finish line, if all the players come together and agree on language.
The complex issues that come before the utilities committee are often years in the making. SB 564, the energy bill that led to the development of Ameren Missouri’s Smart Energy Plan, had been in the works for roughly a decade before landing on the governor’s desk.