News and Info

Mr. Scissors appropriately sums up the major loss for Missourians for years to come

MBEF STATEMENT ON AMEREN ANNOUNCEMENT

(Jefferson City, Missouri) - Statement from Irl Scissors, Executive Director of Missourians for a Balanced Energy Future (MBEF), regarding Ameren's announcement Thursday morning:

Missouri should be advancing an agenda for a balanced energy future, but our state has blown its best opportunity to create a long-term, reliable, affordable, balanced energy portfolio.

There is no question that Missouri lost today.

We lost a $6 billion investment in our state that would have created the largest construction project in Missouri history. We lost the creation of 3,000 good-paying jobs in a time of record unemployment. We lost millions of dollars that would have gone to local governments for public safety and education. And equally important, we lost any prospect of expanding reliable nuclear power in Missouri to meet our growing future baseload energy needs.

This opportunity has been squandered because large industrial corporations, led by Noranda, Monsanto and InBev, sought even lower rates for themselves. These large industrial corporations already pay about half the electric rates paid by our poorest Missouri consumers. It is just wrong to balance a large industrial corporation's fair share on the backs of residential consumers and smaller companies.

Now Missouri has been set back in developing clean, renewable, reliable energy that would have benefitted future generations. With energy prices rising, carbon taxes looming, and more than 85 percent of our state's energy coming from coal, Missouri has lost its chance to address our need for a balanced path to affordable baseload energy.

Missourians for a Balanced Energy Future strongly commends the many state legislators who held to a steadfast and sensible vision and worked tirelessly for our citizens' future energy security. MBEF also thanks the Missouri State AFL-CIO for mobilizing the support of workers who share in our disappointment with this development.

MBEF will continue to work this session for passage of legislation encouraging greater energy efficiency and expansion of renewable power sources. But the key to cleaner, reliable, year-round baseload energy in Missouri has been lost.