Don't Raise Utility Rates for a Risky Nuclear Gamble

I urge you to oppose HB2122 (Black) and HB1626 (Haley). While these bills are being marketed under the attractive banner of the “Missouri Nuclear Clean Power Act,” they represent a dangerous and regressive shift in state energy policy that will directly harm Missourians. At its core, this legislation forces ratepayers to become unwilling investors in the high-risk gambling venture of new nuclear construction. It repeals the long-standing consumer protection that prevents electrical corporations from charging customers for "construction work in progress." This means that before a single kilowatt of power is generated, before a plant is even operational, Missouri families and small businesses will see their utility bills increase to cover the costs of construction, financing, and corporate profits on the project. This is a fundamental inversion of risk. In a free market, corporations assume the financial risk of their investments. If a project fails, the corporation and its shareholders bear the loss. This bill socializes that risk, handing it over to the public, while privatizing the profits for the utility company. We learned this lesson the hard way with projects like the Ameren Iatan plant, where ratepayers were left on the hook for cost overruns and delays. This bill opens the door to repeating that mistake on a potentially massive scale, with customers bearing the burden of any imprudent management, cost escalation, or construction delays. The premise that we need to subsidize new nuclear power to secure "clean baseload" energy is also misguided. The future of energy is not in expensive, centralized, large-scale nuclear projects that take decades to build, but in a decentralized grid powered by renewable sources like solar and wind, combined with rapidly advancing battery storage technology. These renewable alternatives are becoming cheaper and faster to deploy, putting the power of energy generation back into the hands of communities and individuals, not distant corporate monopolies. Investing ratepayer dollars in 20th-century technology like small modular reactors is a step backward. It locks Missouri into a single, costly, and technologically challenging path for decades, diverting resources and political will away from the more sustainable, democratic, and economically viable solutions that a just transition to a green economy requires. The bill attempts to mitigate this with clauses about refunds for imprudently incurred costs, but this is a hollow promise. It forces consumers into a lengthy and complex legal battle with a well-funded corporation to get their money back after the fact, rather than preventing the overcharge in the first place. We should not force Missourians to pay higher electricity bills today for a speculative, high-risk project that may not provide power for another twenty years. Please vote "no" on these bills and protect Missouri consumers from this unnecessary financial burden.