Electric rate bill worth the effort if jobs come

There are many ways to look at the recent electric rate/economic development bill passed by Missouri's legislature in the recent special session.

The process revealed some political infighting and questions about how job creation falls on the list of priorities compared to the raising of electric rates by the mega power utility, Ameren.

In the end, we are encouraged and hopeful.

It was an intense and contentious process, but in the end, the bill that was passed was a better bill than what the Senate refused to take up.

According to reporting by Mark Bliss and the Associated press, supporters of the bill hope the legislation will lure two businesses to the Bootheel, where the closing of a Noranda aluminum smelter last year eliminated more than 900 jobs. A Switzerland-based company bought the plant and expressed interest in reopening part of it through a subsidiary, Magnitude 7 Metals. But those jobs haven't come to fruition, in part because the company needed a lower electricity rate.

A business from India has looked at opening a steel mill in the area, potentially bringing more than 200 jobs. The company also has looked at sites in West Virginia and New York.

The legislation allows Ameren to negotiate lower electric rates with companies that meet specific criteria for economic development and high electricity thresholds. The original bill, some argued, would have given the power company too much latitude to raise rates on the entire population. That's why the measure did not make it past the Senate. The new bill retained the watchdog authority of the public service commission to approve or deny such rate reduction for companies at the potential expense of the public.

Sen. Doug Libla, a Poplar Bluff Republican, took a lot of heat in his own district and from the governor. While wildly unpopular for his stance initially, he had a principled reason for opposing the measure, while others understandably argued the benefits outweighed the cost. Again, in the end a better bill was passed, thanks in part also to Cape Girardeau Sen. Wayne Wallingford.

It's yet to be seen whether the action will bring the two businesses to the Bootheel. We hope so. The area is the most impoverished area in the state, and one of the poorest in the nation. If the jobs come as advertised, the efforts will have been worth the process, as politically charged as it was.