Missouri Senate approves Power Predictability and Reliability Act
Legislation encouraging investment in reliable electric generation receives bipartisan approval
By a 22-11 vote, the Missouri Senate put its stamp of approval on a wide-ranging utility bill. Made up of more than 20 components, Senate Bill 4 includes language establishing the Power Predictability and Reliability Act. To ensure the state's utility companies can continue to meet the needs of their customers and maintain the state's status as an affordable and attractive place to do business, the measure aims to reduce the disincentives energy companies face when investing in new, on-demand power plants.
The Missouri Senate approved SB 4 on Monday, Feb. 24.
"As power-usage rates continue to skyrocket throughout the country, now is the time to act to ensure Missouri's utility companies can continue meeting the needs of our state's citizens and its businesses," said Warren Wood, vice president of regulatory and legislative affairs for Ameren Missouri. "This legislation is about more than just access to reliable electricity; it's also about economic development and making sure Missouri continues to be an attractive and affordable place to do business."
During a presentation to the Missouri Public Service Commission (PSC) in August, the Department of Economic Development reported the state has several large-scale business-related projects in its planning pipeline requiring more than a gigawatt of power each. These projects represent the potential of thousands of new jobs and billions of dollars of investment in the Show-Me State.
The wide-ranging bill also includes several reforms requested by the PSC, a future test year option for gas and water utility rate cases and numerous consumer protection measures. Most of the provisions included in the 133-page bill impact the state's electric, gas and water investor-owned utilities. Under SB 4, the PSC and the Office of Public Counsel, the state's official consumer advocate, would receive additional funding for their respective organizations. The legislation passed by the Missouri Senate also gives the PSC the ability to set a special electric rate for qualifying customers experiencing a high utility burden.
"While this legislation incentivizes the state's utility companies to put steel in the ground and build the reliable, dispatchable generation needed to move Missouri forward, it does contain several consumer protection measures designed to benefit the customers of the state's investor-owned utilities," said Sen. Mike Cierpiot, R-Lee's Summit, the sponsor of SB 4. "Overall, I believe this legislation strikes a good balance between protecting customers and incentivizing the state's electric companies to build new power generation."
Senate Bill 4 now heads to the Missouri House of Representatives where it has been referred to the House Utilities committee for further consideration. If approved by the Missouri House without any additional changes, SB 4 would then be sent to the governor's desk for his consideration.