Power Profile: Representative Keri Ingle
Representative Keri Ingle, D-Lee's Summit, represents the 35th District in the Missouri House of Representatives. Photo courtesy of Tim Bommel/House Communications.
For Rep. Keri Ingle, energy policy is deeply personal.
Before her election to the Missouri House of Representatives in 2018, Ingle built her career as a licensed master social worker, helping children, families and medically vulnerable people navigate some of life’s hardest challenges, an experience she said continues to shape her work in public office. Now representing the 35th District in the Missouri House, which includes parts of Lee’s Summit and southern Kansas City, she serves as ranking member of the House Utilities committee, where she’s become a strong voice for balancing energy reliability, affordability and innovation.
“This is not a luxury,” Ingle said of the need for reliable energy. “It’s a life-and-death situation.”
That perspective has guided her approach to some of the most consequential energy legislation in recent years, including Senate Bill 4, a sweeping bipartisan measure signed into law earlier this year. The legislation updated Missouri’s utility regulations to allow for long-term infrastructure planning, authorized new grid modernization projects and added safeguards for residential customers, such as expanding the grace period before power shutoffs during extreme weather from 24 to 72 hours. Ingle said the bill’s combination of these long-term investments and enhanced consumer protections reflects a pragmatic path forward for Missouri.
For those living paycheck to paycheck, or whose medical equipment depends on constant power, the extra days can mean the difference between a manageable setback and a crisis.
“The consumer protections are monumental,” she said. “They’re on par or better with anything in the country.”
For Ingle, the bill represents the kind of thoughtful policymaking Missouri needs to meet the challenges ahead. The state’s energy grid is under increasing strain from both rising demand, driven by energy-intensive industries like data centers, and increasingly unpredictable weather.
“Every summer is a new record,” Ingle said. “We’re seeing more and more dramatic inclement weather events, massive weather events happening every year.”
Ingle said investments in grid modernization and a diversified energy portfolio are critical to ensuring reliability for families and businesses alike. Without the right infrastructure in place, Missouri risks losing opportunities for major employers and must prioritize maintaining a strong, reliable baseload to meet growing demand.
She pointed to partners like Ameren Missouri, which are already delivering on that vision by investing in smart grid technologies, storm-hardening measures and cleaner generation resources. Ingle said those investments are essential not only for reliability but also for keeping Missouri competitive in a fast-changing energy landscape.
That vision, Ingle said, includes a growing role for renewable energy. She sees cleaner sources like solar and wind, paired with reliable baseload generation, as essential for creating a more resilient system and sustaining Missouri’s long-term economic growth. Reducing barriers for utilities, businesses and individuals to invest in these technologies, she said, is both a pragmatic and market-driven approach.
“I think it makes sense from a free-market capitalist perspective to let people do what they want with their money, with their land,” she said. “The government should not be so strong handed when it comes to what folks want to do with their own property or what corporations want to do with their own property.”
Her collaborative style has helped her make progress in a politically divided Capitol. Despite serving in the minority party, she’s built a reputation for working across the aisle to educate fellow lawmakers on the complexities of utility regulation and find common ground.
“Utility issues are not blue and red or black and white,” she said. “We all have a vested interest in making sure that we have reliable energy.”
That ability to navigate competing interests, between consumer needs, industry priorities and grid demands, has made Ingle a respected voice in Missouri’s energy policy discussions. It’s also a skill she plans to take with her as she prepares for a 2026 run for the Missouri Senate.
As she looks ahead to her final year in the House, her priorities remain focused on ensuring energy policies work for everyone, from large employers fueling Missouri’s economy to the families she meets at their kitchen tables.
Her commitment to that balance is rooted in her own life. A single mother of two, Ingle said her 13-year-old and 8-year-old children keep her grounded. She keeps their photos on her desk in Jefferson City as a daily reminder of her purpose.
“I want to create policies in a Missouri that supports them,” she said. “And I know that if I’m doing what’s best for them when I’m voting, then I’m doing what’s best for all kids, all families. When things are hard in Jefferson City, that reminds me why I’m there.”
To learn more about Rep. Keri Ingle and her work in the State Capitol, please visit her official webpage.