Power Play In Southeast Missouri
Ameren is one of the state’s largest electrical utilities. Noranda is an aluminum company in Southeast Missouri that, due to the nature of making aluminum, uses an enormous amount of electricity. This is a tricky post to write because it is certainly complicated stuff and I don’t have a Ph.D. in electrical engineering like my father-in-law does. Noranda and Ameren have several cases before the Public Service Commission (PSC) that are being considered. In an effort to simplify things, it all basically comes down to two issues:
1) Claims that Ameren has been overcharging its customers from what the PSC allows it to receive in profits, and
2) Demands for mandated lower rates for Noranda itself, the state’s largest electricity consumer.
As to claim No. 1, if that is correct, then the PSC will take appropriate action. While rates themselves don’t directly compare to returns, in fairness to Ameren, the most recent annual electricity rate survey just showed Saint Louis as having the second-lowest residential electricity rates in the survey (which included much, but not all, of the country). The same survey showed Ameren having among the lowest commercial rates as well. So, while it may be possible to over-earn while charging comparatively very low rates, Ameren is hardly holding its customers (at least its Saint Louis customers) over the barrel.
As for Noranda’s demands for even lower rates, they already pay the lowest rates in the state. Furthermore, the Missouri General Assembly has already given Noranda the unique right to shop for electrical providers, unlike any other person or business in the state. I don’t begrudge Noranda any of this. As the largest user, I understand why their bulk discount is so high. Also, while I may want to give more customers the same right to shop that Noranda has, I certainly don’t want to take that option away from them.
That said, there has to be a limit on having the state solve Noranda’s electrical cost issues. If they can’t negotiate an even better deal from Ameren, Noranda does have the right to switch providers. Indeed, that is how they switched to Ameren in the first place. That is more than enough special treatment from the state.
Noranda’s efforts to curb its power costs goes back years. Noranda used to purchase electrical power from the rural cooperative by its smelter. But with the help of a law passed solely for its benefit by the Missouri General Assembly, Noranda was allowed to switch electricity providers. As of 2005, it has purchased electricity from Ameren at a cheaper rate than the cooperative had offered.
It is the role of the PSC to regulate private utilities, but it is not the role of the PSC to fix Noranda’s bottom line. We all want Noranda to successfully continue operating in Missouri, but it is not the role of state government to aggressively interfere in an attempt to guarantee that.
