A pair of bills in the Missouri House would help the Show-Me State attract new businesses by ensuring the state has adequate energy to power them.
This week, the House Utilities Committee heard HB 853, sponsored by Rep. Josh Hurlbert (R-Smithville), and HB 963, sponsored by Rep. Brad Pollitt (R-Sedalia).
Both pieces of legislation would help Missouri meet the rising demand for energy caused in part by the onshoring of large manufacturing facilities and increased internet usage.
Missouri is quickly becoming an energy deficient state, Rep. Hurlbert said.
“This will significantly impact our ability to attract business development,” Hurlbert said. “With the nationwide strain on our grid, the first question business locaters are now asking local economic developers is, ‘Do you have the power necessary for our project?’ And it’s getting to the point where developers are now having to say, ‘No, we don’t.’”
The proposed legislation would modernize the regulatory process and change the way utility companies do their accounting in order to incentivize investment in new energy generation.
Known as Construction Work in Progress, or CWIP, the legislation would allow utility companies to recover some of the costs incurred during new plant construction.
“When Missouri is in the business of trying to attract economic development, we want and need to be competitive with our neighbors,” said Kayla Hahn, chair of the Missouri Public Service Commission. “We don’t want to be losing any football teams, Googles, Metas, or gas plants to Kansas.”
Jared Hankinson, director of legislative affairs for the Missouri Chamber, joined Evergy and Ameren Missouri in support of the bills.
“You heard how important ensuring the resiliency and reliability of Missouri’s grid is to attracting new businesses, but it’s also very important to ensuring that existing businesses in Missouri have the opportunity to grow,” Hankinson said. “We’ve heard from many of our members – large, small and everywhere in between – that this is incredibly important for them and the integrity of their business.”
For more information, contact Hankinson at jhankinson@mochamber.com or call (314) 221-1041.
