Kehoe introduces early nuclear plant permit bill

Ameren's Callaway Nuclear power Plant (Ameren File Photo)

Thursday, March 1, 2012

State Sen. Mike Kehoe has filed a bill allowing AmerenMissouri and its consortium of for-profit and rural electric cooperative utilities to have ratepayers pay for the costs of seeking an early site permit to build a second nuclear reactor in Callaway County.

Kehoe’s action came Wednesday, the next-to-last day that state senators could introduce bills for this year’s legislative session — and 51 weeks after a similar bill received a marathon hearing before a Senate committee that never held another meeting. Subsequent efforts died on the last day of the session.

“The ESP bill I filed is identical to the ESP components in last year’s May 13th compromise,” the Jefferson City Republican said, “with all the consumer protections, and the clawback for customers to get their money back if a plant’s not built.”

Kehoe’s proposal would allow an electric company to recover, over no more than six years, up to $45 million of “prudently-incurred expenditures” the company spent to win an early site permit from the NRC.

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wow 1 year, 2 months ago

Now I know why Mike sold his Auto Dealership...the guy see's a better business profit in partnering with an electrical company...ie.. Ameren UE. Why else did State Sen. Mike Kehoe fle a bill allowing AmerenMissouri and its consortium of for-profit and rural electric cooperative utilities to have RATEPAYERS/CUSTOMERS pay for the costs of seeking an early site permit to build a second nuclear reactor? Money, Money, Money, MONEY

I thought the public gave a No vote on this. Oh well...a nother politician tryng to fill his pockets instaed of helping/serving the public.

whocares 1 year, 2 months ago

Thank you Mr. Kehoe for trying to fill the pockets of thousands of workers that will build the second unit at Callaway. Thank you also for being able to see into the future that our energy demand will only grow not shrink. So yes we do need a second unit and better paying jobs as well as increased tax income to our schools to help educate the ones that obviously missed Spelling 101 and Basic Economics.

NavyBuckeye 1 year, 2 months ago

Smart move. I agree with who cares. I bet wow has no problem paying for Apple's development cost on his new Iphone or Ipad. Wow, I hate to break it to you, those R&D costs are in the price of your little gadgets.

Also, like whocares mentions this will create jobs and help make the growing energy demand managable.

rodinman 1 year, 2 months ago

Private enterprise needs to use private money. Stop the bonuses, stop the investors checks, stop the checks going to lobbyists and there would probably be enough money to cover the costs. Mr Kehoe, please do us a big favor and go back to selling cars.

whocares 1 year, 2 months ago

Private enterprise IS wanting to use private money of people that USE their services.

rodinman 1 year, 2 months ago

whocares, they are wanting to reach into my pocket to pay their expenses -- that is robbery. They need to use their own (private) money. I'll pay for the product when I use it, not before hand.

bluesfan13 1 year, 2 months ago

So you'd rather have a $1.00 rate increase in the future than a $0.50 increase now? If the plant is never built, this bill still has an avenue in it where Ameren would have to pay back any money collected.
If the plant IS built, and we don't start covering those costs now, then rates will be that much higher once the plant comes online. Either we start paying for it now, or we pay more for it later.

rodinman 1 year, 2 months ago

That is correct.

gofish 1 year, 2 months ago

The problem with Kehoe is he was paid thousands of dollars in campaign money by Ameren. The problem with Ameren is they are not good stewards in the community. The combination is another sickening display of greed which is what has so many people in this country fed up and willing to "occupy".

Deliberate actions by Ameren employees led to the Tom Sauk failure that caused a massive amount of ecological damage. In the years before the ice storms Ameren failed to maintain a tree trimming program that resulted in far more power outages than what should have been. Every year, the PSC blindly approves rate increases to assure large profits to Ameren.

The problem is, Ameren doesn't want to reinvest it's own profits into growing it's business. It wants me, the overstrapped consumer, to finance it's private industry, so that it can grow and reap more profit. Meanwhile, I will never see a dime of benefit, because my rates will never go down.

Kehoe is doing one thing and one thing only. Supporting his poilitical cronies to help the rich get richer. Kehoe is a disappointment to Mid-Mo.

JCLifer 1 year, 2 months ago

Speaking of Kehoe and disasters, rumor is that the comprehensive state employee salary study will not happen, and the effort to reclassify positions and adjust salary schedules is dead. Kehoe was on the committee with other local legislators. Sounds like they are all toeing the party line like their predecessors. One would think they would push hard for this because of the huge drag on the local economies that the largest employer creates by paying such low wages.

JCLifer 1 year, 2 months ago

Ameren UE has some of the lowest rates in the country! Try living elsewhere and see how you enjoy paying twice as much. I think Ameren UE does a great job for what they get paid.

The question is do you want to pay a little bit now, or do you want to pay a whole lot more later? Electricity will never be this cheap. Labor will never be this cheap. Materials will never be this cheap.

We can build this thing now and enjoy all the jobs and millions of dollars pumped into the local economy. Or, we can build it in ten years and pay twice or three times as much. Or we can just let some other state build it and they can get the jobs. Ameren UE is in other states. Don't think Illinois wouldn't love to have this huge construction project and all the jobs it would bring!

Sure, no one wants to pay for anything, but this is a no-brainer. I remember all the jobs and economic development the first reactor brought to this area in the '70s. We sure could use that kind of boost again right now.

melbrooks 1 year, 2 months ago

Something is freezing over. I agree with Lifer.

There will be more and more demand for power as the economy recovers and more electric cars come on the road, and these facilities aren't built in a couple of years. Also, Ameren has brought in partners--including the co-ops. It's a long-term investment by these organizations, and not without risk.

We can host this high-paying, high tech industry--or it can go elsewhere. Which do we want?

Make no mistake: this plant will be built somewhere. Why not have those jobs and economic activity here?

asb 1 year, 2 months ago

As dangerous as nuke sources are, we need them The greater threat to the future of our civilization is the continued near-total dependence on carbon for energy. Regulation of nuke plants has to focus on safety, propriety, efficiency and long term stewardship, none of which are profitable and so must be done by quasi governmental utilities; but they must be built. Mike Kehoe's efforts on the part of a dubious skill-set energy corporation is crony politics, so keep him in mind at his next election, and watch Amerun closely and loudly; but Callaway sits at a critical node in our grid and should expand. The NRC is who needs poking here, to be sure Amerun can do the job right. But frankly the NRC should dismiss the planned application as inadequate in scale. A mere doubling is not enough, Unless Missouri's existing coal and gas plants can be slated for nuke or other replacement, vision is absent and the future is gross.

JCLifer 1 year, 2 months ago

Nukes are quite safe. There have been a heck of a lot more people killed in coal mining than in nuclear energy.

Sequoia 1 year, 2 months ago

Instead of this nuclear plant, if we spent this money on retro-fitting existing structures with solar panels, wind capture, ground-source heating/cooling, energy efficient technology and smart grid technology, we wouldn't NEED a new power plant.

Instead of generating lots of power from one big source, we need to generate smaller amounts of power from many sources. A single-family home with the right technology can generate power and put it onto the electric grid. This is possible right now.

This needs to happen on a large scale, and utilities need to be in the business of using smart grid technology to trasmit power from where it is being produced to where it is needed and provide electric service... instead of the current business model where the utility owns a plant and produces and sells power like a commodity.

This involves second-by-second analysis and transmission, where the electric grid is basically like the internet. Anyone can "log on" and either buy or sell power they are currently needing or producing at that moment. They can use batteries in their electric cars to store power. All of the electric cars in the country serve as a giant battery the utilities can tap into.

This is how renewable energy works... not from a wind farm here or a field of solar panels there, and one or two novelty electric cars.

Maybe nuclear energy or natural gas is a bridge to this, but we need to change our model, pronto.

donroger 1 year, 2 months ago

As much as I would like to agree with you I cannot. The cost at this time of adding solar and wind generating capacity to my home would be over $25000.00. My electric bill runs about $100.00 per month. So if I installed it and had no maintenance problems I could break even in about 20 years. It is not economically feasible to do and I don't have Ameren for a suplier, my rates are higher. The only areas that it does work are states that have large tax advantages for the installation of off grid power. Plus right now in California there is concern over the cooling of the desert and what results it will have on the ecosystem because of all of the solar panels stopping the sunlight from reaching the ground beneath them.

kc911foryou 1 year, 2 months ago

These certainly are NOT the actions of the Mike Kehoe I knew as a community advocate and good neighbor. If this bill passes I will never vote for Mike again. He's run multiple businesses and had shown in the past that he understood good business practices.

If you build it they will come--Maybe! I liked the analogy of the Ipod and how we paid for the R&D on that product. That's part of the process. And only those who chose to buy the product paid the R&D fees that are built in to the product.

Coming up with the capital to build a new facility, or any other improvement, is up to the investors not the potential customers. People who would pay now and then move away from the area lose whatever they paid if the plant isn't online in time for them to benefit from it. And in the mean time our dollars are drawing interest in Ameren's account. Will that interest be returned as well as the principal if the facility is not built? I doubt it.

Ameren needs to run it's business like an independant corporation, not by changing state law to benefit their enterprise. Withdraw the bill Sen. Kehoe!

gofish 1 year, 2 months ago

I AGREE! When Ameren is ready to propose paying dividends on the investment it's asking me for, then we can converse directly about how big of a check I CHOOSE to write. Kehoe needs to separate the 1st Church of Ameren from the state taxpayer and stop deriding his constituency.

RobHunterJohnson 1 year, 2 months ago

Thanks Mike, WE NEED ANOTHER NUCLEAR PLANT. The sooner the better, and its clean safe energy! Rob

tigger2118c 1 year, 2 months ago

Nice job Mike, hope you get it through this time! More jobs for Mid Missouri would be pretty good!

unowho 1 year, 2 months ago

Kehoe is a fool. Republicans are fake capitalists!

NoMoBigBro 1 year, 2 months ago

Enlightening post unowho! Your knowledge and insight are astounding!!

RobHunterJohnson 1 year, 2 months ago

Unowho, would you please explain? Rob

wow 1 year, 2 months ago

What Jobs...surely you don't mean those temp jobs that will be around to do the construction work and then dissapaper as soon as the work is completed? I don't think the work is gonna take that long to do...so there won't be very many permanent jobs if any that will be created.

Missouri will not benefit from the Power that is being created from a new tower either. The Power will not be deciminated through this state. It will be sent out to other states...so our bills will not go down one bit! Also the last few rate increases was to help Ameren secure the permits for this new tower....what happened to the money and why do they need more money from the Tax Payer? I'm all for paying to modernize, but I'm not willing to buy some Ameren Puke a new bass boat and help furnish Kehoe's summer vacation. Show me where the past dollars have gone and if things are cool, then you have my support. Until...GTFOMFP!!

Also...our president has asked Billionaires/Millinaires to pay a higher tax to help generate some revenue. These people can afford to pay the extrat small amount, but they are crying FOUL!! They have convnced a few folks that they are being robbhed to pay for other peoples mistakes... Isn't it funny that these same rich people and their friends can't see fit for them to pay a little more, but they can _)(&^%$%#$%@(&*$#$#^&&)(&^%$#$%RT sure see fit to shake the common man down for more money! WIGOIA?

bluesfan13 1 year, 2 months ago

None of "the last few rate increases" had anything to do with site permits for this or any other plant. That is currently illegal, hence the reason for the proposed bill.

wow 1 year, 2 months ago

Ok...what were those increases for and what was the result. Show me something positive before asking me/other's to start digging into my/their kids college money and my/their retirement funds.

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