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Gov. Parson’s update on storm recovery, damage assessments: Missouri is making strong progress

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Hawthorne Apartments took a direct hit Wednesday night.

Governor Parson urges Missourians to be prepared to take protective actions over the Memorial Day holiday weekend in which severe weather and flooding are being forecast.

The National Weather Service Kansas City Office expects up to three inches of rain in northwest Missouri by early Saturday morning, resulting in a Flash Flood Watch. The Kansas City NWS office is calling for a total of 4 to 6 inches of rainfall for parts of Missouri over the next seven days. This is now expected to push flooded rivers to higher levels than previously forecast

In Jefferson City, a team of volunteer engineers, architects, building inspectors, and other trained professionals Friday began assessing the exteriors of about 500 homes and buildings believed to have sustained damage to determine which are safe and which should be evacuated.

On Saturday, SEMA’s Structural Assessment and Visual Evaluation (S.A.V.E.) Coalition is expected to evaluate about 200 additional structures in Cole County that are reported to have been damaged.

Of the first 321 structures reviewed Friday, the S.A.V.E. Coalition reported the following:

  • 78 Unsafe (Severely damaged and cannot be occupied – Red placard.)
  • 60 Restricted Use (A portion of the building is unsafe – Yellow placard.)
  • 183 Safe for Reentry (Structurally safe to occupy – Green placard.)

Inspectors look for external structural damage, such as partially collapsed buildings, buildings moved off their foundations, leaning buildings, damage to supports, falling hazards from chimneys or walls, or other hazards like gas leaks or downed power lines.

“As I traveled the state yesterday and observed the devastation from Wednesday night storms, I saw people hard at work and lending a hand everywhere I went. Missouri utilities and businesses have brought on extra workers and are working extended shifts; public service workers are doing yeoman’s work, and volunteers are making a difference. The results are clear. Missouri is making strong progress in our recovery from this challenge, ” Parson said.

More updates from Governor’s Office

  • State Facilities Restoration: The Missouri Office of Administration (OA) has taken the following actions so that all state employees can return to work on Tuesday: begun cleanup efforts, worked with contractors to repair damaged buildings and roofs, worked with Ameren Missouri to restore power to several buildings, recovered IT equipment from damaged buildings, and identified temporary work spaces for employees in damaged buildings. At the Division of Employment Security building on Dunklin Street, OA has assisted in moving employees to temporary work spaces and worked to repair the HVAC system, as well as cleaning debris and helping Ameren Missouri restore power to the building.

 

  • Power Restoration: Efforts by Ameren Missouri and Three Rivers Electric Cooperative, bolstered by additional crews, have greatly reduced outages. Friday morning, in the Jefferson City area, Ameren Missouri was reporting about 3,000 outages. Three Rivers Electric was reporting about 900 outages in Cole County and about 250 in Miller County. Power is expected to be completely restored Saturday. There were more than 14,000 total outages on Thursday.

 

  • Communications Restoration: Verizon, which sustained damage that affected 19 sites in the Jefferson City area has deployed three mobile cellular sites and a mobile community center at City Hall to support first responders and affected community members with wireless communications. The company is also providing a recharging station, laptops with internet connectivity, and an air-conditioned mobile facility to support survivors and volunteers. It’s also offering unlimited calling, text, and data for customers impacted by the Missouri tornadoes.

 

  • Communications Restoration: U.S. Cellular, whose service was affected by the storms in Miller, Barton, and Jasper counties, deployed generators and partnered with another carrier to raise call capacity.

 

  • Law Enforcement: In addition to assisting local public safety agencies responding to calls for service, search and rescue, and security details in Jefferson City, Golden City and Carl Junction, the Missouri State Highway Patrol provided 21 of its law enforcement academy recruits to direct traffic in damaged areas of Jefferson City on Thursday. Also, nine Patrol troopers assisted by handling regular police calls for service in the Jefferson City area on Thursday. Patrol aircraft have been assisting with aerial damage assessments.

 

House hears testimony on electric utility infastructure surcharge proposal

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A House Committee is considering a change to how the state’s electric companies recover the cost of rebuilding or repairing infrastructure.

Sponsor of HB 398, Representative Jeanie Riddle (second from left), listens as representatives for Empire Electric, Ameren and Kansas City Power and Light testify for the proposal. (Photo courtesy; TIm Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

Sponsor of HB 398, Representative Jeanie Riddle (second from left), listens as representatives for Empire Electric, Ameren and Kansas City Power and Light testify for the proposal. (Photo courtesy; TIm Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

The proposal, HB 398, would let utility companies ask the Public Service Commission to let them charge customers an Infrastructure System Replacement Surcharge (ISRS) to recover the cost of certain types of infrastructure work or regulatory compliance, without a full rate case.

Irl Scissors with the lobbying group Missourians for a Balanced Energy Future says that means consumers would pay the same increase they would anyway, but spread over time.

“The revenue requirement per each rate class with ISRS or without ISRS will not vary … zero difference. So the only difference between the ISRS model and the current rate making procedure is timing.”

Consultant Morris Brubaker testified against the proposal, saying it would let electric utilities spend more money in less time than they can now.

“If you forever … or for a long period of time spend more money faster, your rates are always going to be higher than they would have been if you hadn’t accelerated those investments.”

Backers and opponents also offer differing opinions of whether the proposal would create jobs, or cause job losses.

Vice President with the Analysis Group, Ajay Jyoti, testified that higher electricity prices generally are associated to job losses.

He says, “In fact a 10% increase in electricity prices will result in over 60,000 jobs lost in the state of Missouri alone.”

The bill’s sponsor, Representative Jeanie Riddle (R-Mokane) says it will create jobs now and in the future. She was joined in that claim by former Ironworkers union president Joe Hunt and St. Louis Labor Council President Bob Soutier.

After over three hours of testimony on Wednesday the hearing was suspended and will resume next Wednesday.

Utilities testify on cyber security to the Public Service Commission

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The Public Service Commission is continuing its work to make sure that the state’s electric utilities are ready for a cyber security attack. It has held a hearing with representatives of Ameren, Kansas City Power and Light, Empire District Electric after collecting written testimony from them as well.

Public Service Commissioner Terry Jarrett

Commissioner Terry Jarrett says the Commission wants to know that Missouri’s power grid is protected from cyber attacks and that those companies are prepared to respond to such incidents. He says Missouri utilities haven’t been tested.

“Our utilities have become very good at recovering from natural disasters such as ice storms and tornadoes. Fortunately we’ve never had a large-scale cyber attack so we don’t know what that’s going to look like if one happens, so all we can do right now is plan for and make sure that our utilities are planning for such contingencies.”

He says so far, it looks as though those utilities are.

“I’m very heartened by what I heard. The big thing is that they utilities have placed a big priority on this. The boards of directors of all the utilities place a priority on this and as long as that is occurring, we should be okay.”

The Commission will study and discuss the testimony and decide whether any further action will take place.

“It could be a collaborative type of process where we will just work with the utilities informally, or if we feel that a more formal rule making is necessary we’ll take a look at that as well. Sort of all options are on the table right now.”

Decision could come soon on grant for small nuclear reactors (AUDIO)

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Ameren, Westinghouse and the state’s utilities are awaiting word on an application for a federal grant to help support their project to create small, modular nuclear reactors.

State Senator Mike Kehoe (R-Jefferson City) is in Washington D.C. this morning checking on the status of the application for a grant of $452 million over five years.

“We understand that were three applications submitted from other states that have partnered up with other energy providers, so we’re one of four. We’re gonna find out in the next couple of days … we believe we may be one of three. The rumor is that one of those competitors has been already kinda knocked out of the competition.”

Kehoe says Missouri is in a good position to win out. “Missouri’s package, with the unique alliance we have with all the utility providers together, the great safety story that Callaway provides as a site and the efficiency that Callaway’s provided for nuclear energy over the last almost 30 years, as well as Westinghouse who is a global provider of nuclear energy. When you add all those things together I think our odds are pretty darn good.”

Kehoe says if Missouri’s team gets that grant, the whole state stands to benefit. “It not only provides base load power for our state, it also makes Missouri the hub of that technology, which means it’s an incredible export opportunity to manufacture these products and export them globally right out of central Missouri.”

If Missouri doesn’t get the grant, Kehoe says the “conversation’s not going to go away.”

He says a decision could be announced in the next 30 to 45 days.

AUDIO: Mike Lear interviews Senator Mike Kehoe, 6:27

Inspections urged for Lake of the Ozarks docks

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Authorities at the Lake of the Ozarks are urging property owners on the Lake to have regular inspections done of their docks, particularly for electrical safety.

Three people have been electrocuted at the Lake in the last week and three others were shocked in May but were pulled from the water and survived.

Ameren owns property around the Lake and issues permits for new docks. Shoreline Manager Jeff Green says his company hears about cases of electricity in the water each year, but it’s not what he calls common.

“I think this is a somewhat unusual circumstance that accumulated with a lot of people here at the Lake, enjoying the Lake. It’s a hot summer so we have lots of people here right now. This is a terrible, tragic occurrence.”

Green says those who do feel electricity in the water generally want to swim toward a dock. “That’s probably not the best thing to do because if the dock is energized you actually want to swim away from that dock, and certainly disconnect the power immediately and call one of the local fire districts and have them come out and take a look at it, or a qualified electrician.”

There are six fire protection districts around the Lake that participate in regulations adopted in 2006 of how electrical installations are supposed to be done. Green says those districts can be called to conduct electrical safety inspections as well as electricians.

Green says the only time an electrical safety inspection is required is when a boat dock permit is issued. Once that initial inspection is done, a dock owner could potentially never have another one done, but Green says they should. “It’s each individual dock owner’s responsibility to make sure that they keep their dock electrically safe and that almost demands some kind of inspection.”

See more about electrical safety with docks on Ameren’s website.

PSC appointee anxious to learn more about small nuclear reactor parnership

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A Festus resident that has been re-appointed to the Public Service Commission is looking forward to learning more tomorrow about Missouri’s next big role in the nuclear energy field.

Stephen Stoll (picture courtesy, the Public Service Commission)

Tomorrow is the first meeting of the Public Service Commission since Stephen Stoll was re-appointed. He’s looking forward to a presentation on the agreement between Westinghouse and Ameren to work together to develop and manufacture new Small Modular Nuclear Reactors (SMRs).

Stoll says he doesn’t have any preconceived notions about the project. He just wants to learn more about it.

“I’ve found that the process … works very well in that when a utility makes a proposal, they will offer all sorts of evidence and then there’s a rebuttal to the evidence that they offer … and then, a hearing and things that really help to bring out all facets of the issue. So that’s kind of what I’m anxious to get into.”

See our previous story on the Ameren-Westinghouse partnership.

Stoll spent six weeks on the Commission previously. His appointment was one of those withdrawn by the Governor amid objections from the Senate about how appointments were being made. No Senators voiced an objection to Stoll’s appointment in particular.

He says with the Westinghouse-Ameren partnership and in all Commission business, he sees his responsibilities as being the same. “I want to make sure that we continue to have reliability sources of electricity and natural gas and that people in Missouri continue to have a good environment in which people want to invest.”

The weekly meeting of the Public Service Commission is tomorrow at 9:30 at the Governor Office Building in Jefferson City.