Tracking The Stimulus: Smart Grids Will Still Cost Ratepayers

Springfield City Utilities is applying for more than $11 million dollars in federal stimulus money to put towards a $48 million dollar project to overhaul its meter system.

But even if it gets the stimulus money it's asking for, rate payers would see their bills go up to help pay what the stimulus doesn't cover.

WATCH THE KY3 NEWS @ 10 REPORT HERE

What some call "a smart grid" -- Others see as a luxury item that's too costly:

"My personal opinion, we ought to pass on it at this point," said Springfield City councilman Doug Burlison.

"It's never easy to go out and ask for a surcharge or rate increase at anytime," said City Utilities' Joel Alexander. "We need to look see if we can take advantage of federal stimulus dollars."

Sequestering Carbon

BOND'S $2.5 M ALLOWS PILOT PROJECT

"If we don't try it, we don't know if it's going to work."

The city of Springfield is ground zero for a federal pilot project designed to figure out if carbon emissions can be stored underground.

Watch my KY3 News @ 10 HERE.

Because it's a dirty pollutant, energy officials are already bracing for some type of cap and trade regulation or tax on carbon in the future. Now, a special $2.5 million federal project will test if we can store these emissions underground, in the Ozarks' backyard. With the environmental tide beginning to turn against the pollutants seeping out of the smokestacks, Springfield's own Southwest power plant will now help test whether all that carbon residue can be safely disposed of underground. It will take a three phase process that will last three years. First, they'll conduct geological surveys of the conditions more than 2,000 feet below the plant's surface. Next state and university researchers will look into what was found. And finally, they'll inject a limited amount of carbon into the ground. If they're successful, Springfield's results could become a model for the state and the nation. It could also save City Utilities money, savings they say, would be passed along to you.

"It makes sense to spend a couple of million dollars to find out, can this work? If it does, it will save billions of dollars, and show the way for others," said Sen. Kit Bond, who is credited with delivering the $2.5 million dollars for the project.

"We will learn from that even if it doesn't work. But I'll guarantee you one thing, if we don't try it, we don't know if it's going to work," Bond said.

POWER PLAY: CU Audit Raises Legal Questions

ICY AUDIT STINGS CITY UTILITIES
Tension Filled Room
Targets Include Subsidies, Spending, Salaries
Auditor Montee Calls Spending "Unconstitutional"
CU Wants Finding Removed
"City Utilities opinion is they've done nothing wrong ever."

City Utilities customers may be paying too much for some utility services as a result of subsidization of other departments and spending that may be unconstitutional, according to an audit presented by Susan Montee Tuesday night.

You can watch my KY3 News @ 10 report and read the full audit report HERE.

City Utilities vigorously defended its financial decisions and said they contribute to the quality of life in the Springfield area. The Utility also called the unconstitutional finding "serious" and requested it be removed from the public report. "To make such an allegation without substance or evidence casts unfounded doubt on legitimate business activities," reads the Auditee's Response.

The Auditor said $259,000 in spending on picnics, and donations to other entities like community groups and schools is a clear violation of the Missouri Constitution. Montee said the Attorney General may ultimately have to resolve the disagreement.

Customer Ed Marble called CU "a good utility," but called its response to the audit "pathetic." "I think the main thing I saw was CU not being open with financial disclosure," Marble said. Montee said the main difference between this audit and the audit of the city is "the willingness to work on recommendations." She said the city seemed more willing to embrace change than the utility.

Former CU Board Chair Virginia Fry said she didn't understand Montee's response. She said the utility is always looking for ways to improve. But General Manager John Twitty declined to name any specific recommendation CU would be immediately willing to adopt. Twitty will appear live on Ozarks Today Tuesday morning to talk more about the findings.

"Mixed Bag"

CU AUDIT RELEASED AT 6:30 P.M.

Burlison: "Some are real problems, some are trivial"

The final portion of a three-part audit of the City of Springfield by the state will be released tonight at 6:30 p.m. at the City Utilities Auditorium.

This audit will focus solely on City Utilities. Libertarian City Councilman Doug Burlison tells the KY3 Political Notebook that citizens can expect "roughly a mixed bag of results." Burlison has seen the audit, but not had time to comb through all the details.

"Some of the issues raised are indicative of real problems, some are trivial and may not be real problems," Burlison said in an interview.

Burlison couldn't say much about the details, but he did say this probably was a unique experience for the state auditor's office. "This probably is a first for them in auditing a utility this size. Their utility experience has probably mostly been with smaller cities," Burlison said.

According to CU spokesperson Joel Alexander, this is the first time City Utilities has ever been audited by the state.