Missouri Governor Signs Bill Supporting Utility Energy Efficiency
On July 13, Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon signed into law the Energy Efficient Investment Act (Senate Bill 376), which aims to meet increased demand for electric power while protecting the environment and holding costs down for consumers.
The bill sets a goal for Missouri's investor-owned electric utilities to achieve all cost-effective savings possible from energy efficiency programs. Effective August 28, the state Public Service Commission will now have the ability to encourage cost-effective energy efficiency by developing cost recovery mechanisms for approved programs. Energy efficiency programs, which require Commission approval, must be cost-effective or in the public interest, result in energy savings and be beneficial to customers in the customer class in which it is proposed.
As demand for electricity has continued to increases, investor-owned utilities traditionally have two options for meeting those needs: increasing efficiency to reduce demand, or building new power plants to increase supply. Before the passage of this law, the costs associated with constructing new power plants could be recovered while costs related to efficiency could not, making increases in efficiency a less promising business choice. In the coming weeks, utilities will now be able to include the costs of qualifying efficiency programs in the package of costs which they may recover, treating energy efficiency as a generation source. Utility customers will save money because the cost to implement energy efficiency programs is much less expensive than the capital-intensive new plant construction.
More information on SB 376: Bill Home Page | Text (final version) | Governor's Office Press Release
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