Last week Jim Lee of Busplunge posted a blog concerning a news report at Willard area state Rep. Shane Schoeller’s sponsorship of the part of a bill that would allow Kansas City area utility Aquila to continue to operate a power plant that was built without permission of the State Public Service Commission (who approved it a year later) and continued building in the face of court orders to cease.
Well, while Jim and I are usually at polar opposites when it comes to political views (he likes Hillary, I don’t) it did raise some very interesting questions. I had started to hash out a blog with my thoughts on it when I thought I would try to track down Rep. Schoeller and just ask him directly about the situation.
I just received his response and to be honest haven’t even had time to read it yet because I’m about to run out the door to see my beautiful fiancee and try to wrap up some wedding plans. (May 24 is coming entirely too fast in some ways and not fast enough in others.)
Here is his response, unedited, for you to read and make up your own mind on the situation. I would encourage you if you’re not familiar with the situation to read Jim’s blog on the subject that contains the news item so the background is clearer to you.
LifeofJason: How does that power plant benefit the people of your district enough to justify your sponsorship of the bill instead of a representative from their area?
Rep. Schoeller: As a member of the Missouri House of Representatives I serve on the Special Committee on Utilities. The legislation to allow the Aquila plant to remain in its current location was sent to our committee due to its subject matter. I agreed to sponsor the legislation at the request of the Utilities Committee Chairman, Ed Emery. I realized the legislation would be controversial but believed there needed to be a discussion due to the possibility of a power plant valued at over 140 million dollars being torn down. This action would increase the customer’s electric rates since they would have to go out and purchase power to be shipped in for the peak periods of use. In addition, this purchase of power outside of the service area would also compromise their reliability of electric service which we should try and avoid whenever possible.
I would have been pleased for an area representative from the Cass County area to carry the legislation but due to the controversy surrounding the issue, Chairman Emery believed it best for a representative with no bias in the matter to carry the legislation. I agreed and have let those individuals against the legislation know that I would be glad for the issue to be resolved without HB 2468. To avoid further controversy in the matter it has been decided recently it is best to let the legislation go forward to avoid further costly lawsuits after the settlement between Aquila with the county and residents. I have more information regarding the settlement in the final question.
LOJ: What is your response to the fact that almost every one of the Representatives from the area directly affected by the issue voted against it?
Rep. Schoeller: We worked hard with the representatives from the Cass County area to get their input on the legislation which resulted in it being amended to only apply to first class counties and then sun setting the legislation within one year. I understand though why they voted no. This is an issue where you can see both perspectives very easily. They certainly had some constituents who voiced their concerns through Stop Aquila that did not desire to see the power plant built and agreed with them.
I went and met with many of the residents who live within site of the South Harper facility to be sure there were perspectives other then those opposed to the building of the facility. The residents I met with were very upset with the idea of the power plant being torn down. Many of them were natives of the area, who said before the facility was built that they experienced the loss of power almost every time it rained hard. They really did not want to entertain the notion of it being torn down only to possibly be rebuilt on the exact same location. I address this too in the next question.
LOJ: How can you justify giving essentially amnesty to Aquila for violating the court orders when you’re against giving amnesty to illegal immigrants? Didn’t both of them break the law? Why should either be rewarded?
Rep. Schoeller: Amnesty for illegal immigrants is a federal issue and not an issue we decide in the state legislature. Currently state law does not address the criminality of illegal immigrants. In the state of Missouri it is currently only a civil crime.
The issue at hand with Aquila is not about rewarding them. It has been inaccurately stated that the legislation is designed to save Aquila the embarrassment of dismantling its South Harper peaking facility. Rather the purpose of this bill is to apply some common sense to what has become a three-year long legal battle and avoid the wasteful expenditure of $95 million to dismantle an electric generating facility at a time when the state needs more, not fewer, such facilities to meet increasing demand.
To highlight how little common sense has been applied to this situation, consider the fact that Aquila could be forced to dismantle the plant and then, doing exactly as the courts have prescribed, rebuild the same facility in exactly the same place. HB 2468 would avoid that unreasonable waste of $95 million. Even the Presiding Commissioner of Cass County stated in his committee testimony that the facility could be torn down only to be rebuilt in the same spot.
Some also have said that this legislation would give the Missouri Public Service Commission significant additional power. Again, nothing could be further from the truth. This legislation is narrowly written and expires after one year, at which time the powers that it grants disappear.
Some people feel that Aquila built this facility without any legal authority. I disagree, based on my review of the process that Aquila followed – a process that had been in place and used by all utilities in Missouri for 25 years- Aquila was following the same procedure used by utility companies across the state in building their power plants. Two other states with very similar statutes where it was challenged in court ruled on the side of the utility companies in their final rulings at the State Supreme Court level. In any case, whether you agree that Aquila followed the proper legal process or not, I am convinced that the appropriate resolution of this situation is most certainly NOT the dismantling of the facility.
In addition I want to add that the hearing that HB 2468 received before the Special Committee on Utilities, Aquila executive Jon Empson apologized for Aquila’s role in this situation. Aquila has subsequently reached agreement with Cass County under which Aquila would pay the county nearly $2,000,000 in legal fees and fines. Aquila also continues to work with the local citizens to address their concerns. To me, that represents a much more practical resolution to this issue than dismantling the plant. That is why I have sponsored HB 2468 and support its enactment.
I want to thank Rep. Schoeller for his quick reply to my questions. I’ll probably edit this post later with some thoughts when I have time to really read through the responses.
Edit with my thoughts:
OK…here’s my thoughts on it.
I still don’t see why Rep. Schoeller had to be the one who sponsored it. Why didn’t the chairman of the committee, Ed Emery do it himself? Did Emery think it was too hot to touch so he would throw it to a freshman Representative to take the heat? I hate to be that cynical about politics but it seems like they were tossing off the hot potato.
I know Rep. Schoeller said “due to the controversy surrounding the issue, Chairman Emery believed it best for a representative with no bias in the matter to carry the legislation” and I believe that Rep. Schoeller believes that but I really wonder if that’s just what they wanted him to believe.
Now….only $2 million for legal fees and fines? When it would cost $95 million to tear down the plant? That’s only 2.1% of that cost. If the KC Star report I read tonight was accurate, the plant was $140 million. That means the fine is just 1.4% of the total cost of the plant. That seems WAY to low considering they flaunted court rulings. It doesn’t matter if they thought they would eventually be proven right in the end. Private citizens who ignore court rulings go to jail. This is less than a slap on the wrist to Aquila.
I would say at least a $14 million fine would be a good starting point (or 10% of the cost of the plant.)
On the other hand, it really doesn’t make sense to have them tear it down in order to rebuild it. However, I really worry about the precedent that’s being set by this legislation. If we see it this time, will we see it again? You can’t put the genie back into the bottle even with a sunset provision on this particular law.
Rep. Schoeller is my representative and I have gotten to know him personally. I trust his judgement. Sometimes others are called in to clean up a mess. I applaud the fact that he is willing to step up and do necessary things even in the face of criticism. That shows character.
In my opinion, Schoeller had no justification for doing what he did. Aquila first tried to build near Harrisonville. That first time, they asked the county for approval. It was denied. The second time, Aquila thought they could do it in the same county but without asking anyone, relying on an order from the 30s given to a predecessor company. Right off the bat, they were notified by Cass County that this was unacceptable. Aquila snubbed them. The county said they would sue. Aquila wouldn’t budge. Cass County sues within a couple of weeks. A temporary judgment is obtained ordering Aquila to cease all construction activity. Aquila files a special motion to request the court allow them to continue construction. The court says okay, but with two conditions: 1 pay a $350,000 bond (probably to pay for Cass County’s attorney fees) and 2 be forewarned that if you lose this case, you will have to tear the whole thing down. Aquila says they understand and accept the judge’s ruling. Aquila completes the plant and begins running it. Then the case is finally brought to trial and Aquila loses. Aquila is ordered to tear down the plant (not a surprise given the prior warning). The court says that Aquila could have either gotten authority from the county or from the public service commission. They did neither. However, Aquila appeals. Before the appeal is decided, Aquila requests after-the-fact permission from the public service commission. PSC says okay. Aquila takes that to court, but the appeals court says 1 the trial court was right, and 2 the PSC had no authority to grant permission for a power plant to be built after the fact. The order of the trial court requiring Aquila to tear down the plant is affirmed. The appellate court notes that there would be nothing that would prevent the county from granting permission at that date if Aquila would go through their proceedures. However, Aquila instead goes to Edgar Emory, who asks Schoeller to sponsor this bill. It passes both house and senate. The lesson here must be that if you are faced with the decision of whether to build a plant after being ordered not to, just get it built, and the legislature will bail you out. Schoeller makes some comment that his view represents common sense in light of the cost leaves me disgusted to the point I need to shower. This is a big company that rolled the dice and lost, and now wants to get bailed out. Why would they have made the decision to take a $140 million risk if not for their confidence in their boys in Jeff City. This was likely discussed before they took that chance. I do not mind if the plant stays up. However, I think Aquila should be made to bear the entire cost of dismantling and pay that to an energy efficiency fund for the residents of Cass County to make improvements that would lower the demand that made this plant a necessity. I do not elect government officials to pander to big money or to represent my values of abiding by the law and living up to your obligations and responsibilities. The next time a guy gets caught committing a crime, let’s see the same representative bail him out because it doesn’t make sense to put a guy in jail when he could be earning a lot of money if we just forget about the crime. Well, obviously that won’t happen. Because Shane only cares about you if you have $140 million.