On the CWIP front, we may be about to lose a battle, but we'd have to be a sorry bunch of incompetents to lose the war. And we're not that.
The imminent battle is the vote on Monday of the Senate Commerce Committee. A month ago, the committee looked set to vote down Ameren's money grab. Committee chairman Brad Lager, R-Savannah, said at the public hearing: "As is, I couldn't even get this bill out of committee, much less out of the Senate." A week later, I was part of a small group that lobbied Senator Tom Dempsey, R-St. Peters, to vote against the bill. He didn't commit himself personally, but he did observe that the bill was unlikely to make it out of committee.
Part of the reason it was floundering there was opposition from Kurt Schaefer, R-Columbia. As he questioned Ameren CEO, Tom Voss, and his colleague, Tom Burns [on the left], the freshman senator catalogued all "the serious flaws of this bill as it pertains to consumer protection".
Schaefer concluded by expressing a hope that the bill could be fixed so that the Senate could work with Ameren toward getting this project underway. I don't know whether he will say that he got his wish. The bill has been "fixed". Sort of. Like a slovenly woman who has painted one fingernail to dress herself up. It is still 97 percent unsightly, but Senate Majority Floor Leader Charlie Shields, R-St. Joseph, apparently relishes slovenly women. He wants this bill passed.
