A major bill affecting utilities in Missouri is moving quickly through the state legislature. The measure cleared the House Utility Committee on Monday.
The 133-page bill, called SB4, passed the Senate two weeks ago. In its current form, the bill includes dozens of policy changes that affect electricity, natural gas, water, sewage and even telecommunications.
Advocacy groups are criticizing how it would change the way utilities are able to bill customers. Many witnesses who testified against the bill Monday said it would cause large rate increases for customers.
“I've been testifying before this committee since 1989, and I don't think I've seen any more anti-consumer piece of legislation than this particular bill,” said John Coffman, an attorney with the Consumers Council of Missouri. “It’s extremely complicated, and it's extremely frustrating that this is being rushed.”
One key policy, known as Construction Work in Progress, would allow utilities to charge customers for new natural gas power plants before they are built and operating. Under the current system, utilities build plants, then ask Missouri’s utility regulator for rate increases after they are completed. Another part of the bill would allow utilities to implement rates based on estimates for future years rather than actual costs.
Business groups and representatives of the state’s utility companies said they expect electricity needs to increase significantly in the coming years. Warren Wood, Ameren Missouri’s regulatory vice president, said this legislation is necessary to meet that demand.
“The key criterion that is not met is the broad capacity to bring these customers to the state,” Wood said. “They very much want to be here. We have good low electric rates. They see the reliability on the system, and they want to be here, but they're saying, ‘When are you going to have the capacity online?’ So we need to make that happen.’”
But many advocates for low-income Missourians said the bill would make costs too high. Utility debt is already a huge driver of homelessness among veterans, said Bill Wallace, executive director of Missouri Veterans Endeavor.
“For our veterans and neighbors who are living on the financial fringe, they will not be able to endure such a rate hike,” Wallace said. “That utility insecurity will contribute to an increase in their, our region’s and our state's homelessness to a very precarious tipping point.”
The Consumers Council of Missouri, which advocates for lower utility rates, estimates SB4 would add on average more than $1,000 per year in costs for households over the next decade.
But Ameren’s Wood criticized those estimates Monday.
“All these extravagant numbers out there about big rate increases, and our rates have only become more competitive relative to national and Midwest averages over this entire time frame,” Wood said.
The bill also includes provisions that would help people who are struggling to afford their utilities, including an extension of Missouri’s hot and cold weather rules that would prevent utilities from shutting off service during a 72-hour window of extreme weather instead of the current 24 hours.
Environmental advocates also spoke against the bill Monday, saying it disproportionately favors fossil-fuel energy over renewable sources.
“We're being told that these provisions are necessary for reliability, but at several points in this legislation, fossil fuels are given significant preference over clean energy or even energy efficiency or other options that we could use in the future to meet our energy needs,” said Gretchen Waddell Barwick, Missouri chapter director of the Sierra Club. “Regardless of the cost, regardless of changes in technology or new information, fossil fuels are given significant preference in this bill.”
The bill passed out of committee with 17 votes in favor, four against and two present. It now heads to the full House of Representatives for consideration.
