With air quality an ongoing concern in New Madrid County, advocates are encouraging the local electric provider to seek federal funding.

In recent weeks, Gov. Mike Parson vetoed a bill which would have provided an $8.5 million no-interest loan to Magnitude 7 Metals, an aluminum smelter in New Madrid County. It would have provided Magnitude 7 the capital to make Environmental Protection Agency-mandated improvements to address air quality.

The facility is located next to the coal-fired New Madrid Power Plant operated by Associated Electric Cooperative. Air-quality monitoring has shown sulfur dioxide concentrations in the area many times greater than the EPA safe standard.

James Owen, executive director of the nonprofit Renew Missouri, said in light of the loan veto, the electric provider should seek federal funds to invest in clean-energy production.

"One of the fixes can be for the utility company that provides service to these is to get resources from the federal government to invest in clean, cheap energy, to help lower the bills for Magnitude 7 Metals," Owen suggested.

Both Magnitude 7 and the coal plant emit sulfur dioxide. Owen pointed out federal funds from the Inflation Reduction Act would help improve air quality at the site if the electric co-op would retire the coal plant in favor of a cleaner-energy generation facility.

Advocates said the electric co-op can apply for federal funds through the Energy Department's PACE program, or the Agriculture Department's Empowering Rural America grant program, which opens today and accepts letters of interest through Sept. 15.

Owen would like to see co-op member-owners get active in the effort.

"Right now, Missouri has the second-dirtiest rural electric cooperative system in the country behind Texas, both coal reliant," stressed. "There's opportunities for them to transition away from those coal sources to clean energy. And I think they need to just hear from their member-owners, the people who are their customers, and encouraging them to take advantage of that opportunity."

Magnitude 7 Metals is the largest electric consumer in the state, and a major employer in the region with more than 400 jobs at the facility.

Owen argued lowering energy costs would help both Magnitude 7 and average Missourians.

"This is one of the largest fixed costs, and it's one of the largest variable costs of a household budget, of a business," Owen explained. "We need to be looking at whatever resources are available to help bring that cost down, because that's ultimately going to have a positive impact on the rest of the economy."

He added when people are thinking about transitioning to clean-energy production, they need to look at it as an economic-development opportunity.

After years of double-digit rate hikes on electricity bills, some relief might be in sight.

Oregon Citizens' Utility Board, or CUB, has proposed a 7% to 10% yearly limit on rate increases for Pacific Gas & Electric and Pacific Power.

It is up to the Oregon Public Utility Commission to approve the proposal, and it will be making a decision this week.

Bob Jenks - CUB's executive director - said customers are struggling to absorb the 40% or 50% rate hikes from the last few years, and that something needs to be done to rein in this trend.

"We're concerned that this isn't going to stop," said Jenks. "This is in the interest of utilities to keep raising rates like this as long as they can."

Last winter's ice storm led to record power shutoffs for Oregon households, due to lack of payment of their utility bills.

If the PUC decides to adopt the cap, than PG&E's planned 10.9% increase and Pacific Power's planned 14.9% increase for January would need to be lowered.

Jenks said the system favors large companies, which pay much lower rates than households.

While industries need less infrastructure due to proximity to power supplies, he noted that new data centers are driving the need to grow the grid.

Yet, residential rates are rising more than three times faster than industrial rates.

"We think that residential customers and small-business customers are being asked to subsidize the big server farms," said Jenks, "the big data centers, like Amazon and Meta."

The Portland suburb of Hillsboro is newly home to many power-hungry data centers.

Jenks said PG&E's recent numbers show the centers use more electricity than all the residents in Washington County combined, and those numbers are expected to keep growing.

Jenks said CUB's proposal requires the PUC to mitigate rate increases that are higher than 10%.

They can do that by deferring part of the increase to the following year, or by setting the rate to the lowest level legally allowed that would still be profitable for the utility.

"Needless to say," said Jenks, "the utilities don't agree. "





get more stories like this via email

The power grid will need to be dramatically upgraded and expanded in the coming years to handle the transition to renewable energy - and two new reports look at the impact on wildlife, both on and off-shore.

The placement of large onshore power grids can greatly affect migratory species such as mule deer, elk, and sage grouse.

Veronica Ung-Kono is a clean-energy policy transmission specialist and staff attorney with the National Wildlife Federation.

"Proactively planning transmission development helps to strike a balance," said Ung-Kono, "that can help wildlife have their needs met while also helping people have access to low-cost and clean energy."

Ung-Kono said more research is needed because there's still a lot we don't know about the implications for wildlife as more transmission lines crisscross the landscape.

A second report on offshore wind farms recommends buffer zones around sensitive coral habitat.

It also says cables for windmills fixed to the ocean floor must be shielded and buried to reduce impacts from electromagnetic fields.

Co-author Shayna Steingard - an offshore wind senior policy specialist with the National Wildlife Federation - said if it's done right, the clean-energy transition will preserve habitat, and slow ocean warming and sea-level rise linked to climate change.

"I think climate change presents an existential threat to all species, particularly ocean species," said Steingard. "The threats from offshore wind development pale in comparison to the threat from not addressing climate change. There is no climate solution without offshore wind."

President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to kill offshore wind development. So far, site surveys have been approved for the five wind farms planned off the California coast, but they still face years of permitting and environmental review.

A new analysis of federal data shows that U.S. power plants are sitting on a huge stockpile of coal, much of which came from the Powder River Basin. Experts say the surplus could reduce demand.

The stockpiles amount to 138 million tons of coal, with a value of $6.5 billion, according to a new report from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis.

Seth Feaster is an institute energy data analyst and one of the authors, and said coal deliveries to power plants have been declining - but added that "doesn't appear to be enough."

"That's going to squeeze coal producers for the next year or more," said Feaster, "because the power companies are going to have to burn down that inventory, and try and reduce what their deliveries are going to be."

Feaster said previous stockpiles have taken up to three years to get through.

This excess can happen when the price of natural gas drops, driving power plants that utilize a mix of fuels to opt for more natural gas.

Feaster said another reason power companies may choose gas over coal is that while coal plants are aging and declining, natural-gas production has become a more reliable and responsive source - which mixes well with increasing renewable energy supplies.

"The ability of gas-fired power to adjust quickly to the ups and downs of solar and wind production," said Feaster, "has made it an integral part of the modern energy mix for power production."

Feaster said renewable energy is appealing to power companies because it's relatively inexpensive to build, and there are no additional fuel costs after it's built.

Although the incoming Trump administration appears to be broadly supportive of fossil fuels, Feaster said gas use will affect coal demand.

"I think it's pretty clear that anything that's going to help gas in the overall energy mix is likely to help gas much more than coal," said Feaster, "because it's going to keep prices on the fuel cheaper."

According to the report, coal deliveries have been decreasing for years. About 30 million tons were delivered per month this year, compared with 80 million tons per month in 2008.