JEFFERSON CITY — The House passed the Missouri Nuclear Clean Power Act on Tuesday, which allows electrical corporations to charge customers for construction on nuclear plants in base rates as the plants are being built.
House Bills 2122 and 1626, sponsored by Rep. John Black, R-Marshfield, aim to facilitate funding for new nuclear facilities in Missouri.
Construction work in progress, or CWIP, refers to the value of construction projects that are underway but not completed, something that this bill would allow electric corporations to implement during the construction of nuclear plants.
Under this legislation, the Public Service Commission will determine the amount by which CWIP requests could increase utility rates.
“If you want carbon-free, reliable, baseload power for the state of Missouri, if you want those power plants built in the state of Missouri, for Missouri jobs ... vote yes to this bill,” Black said during the final reading of the bill.
The bill applies specifically to the construction of clean baseload generating plants with a capacity of 600 megawatts or less.
Democrats met this bill with opposition, with some acknowledging the dangers of nuclear waste and the increasing cost of utilities under this legislation.
“Aside from talking about the dangers of radioactive waste and the fact that we have no place to go with it ... this ultimately is a con game,” Rep. Doug Clemens, D-St. Ann, said. “What this bill does is shifts the expense and the risk from the company to grandma, who’s on a fixed income trying to pay her electric bill.”
Clemens has been working for the past 38 years to remove nuclear waste disposed of near St. Louis waterways following the Manhattan Project in the 1940s. St. Louis still feels the impact of this radioactive waste, and Clemens has worked with environmental groups in the area to help combat the issue.
Rep. Del Taylor, D-St. Louis, added that there are many unknowns related to this legislation.
“How much is it going to cost?” Taylor said. “What is the technology? What is the timeline? These are some fundamental things that we’d like to know if we’re going to allow a construction work in progress.”
Rep. David Casteel, R-High Ridge, encouraged legislators to look toward the future and said the current demand for power is insatiable.
“The least we can do is have one foot in the future as we prepare to potentially accept small modular reactors, which would be cheaper to build and smaller than what we’re working with currently,” he said.
During the reading, Black said the fiscal note on this bill is zero, meaning the bill will not require changes to the current budget or any government funds.
The legislation passed with a vote of 95-53, with 7 Republicans voting against it alongside Democrats.