JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - The Missouri House has approved legislation allowing more hydroelectric power to count toward the state's renewable energy requirement.
A 2008 law approved by voters requires investor-owned utilities to use renewable energy sources for gradually increasing amounts of their electricity generation. That law restricted how hydroelectric power could count toward the requirement.
The House bill (HB44) would allow all hydroelectric power produced in Missouri or owned by a Missouri power company to count starting in 2018. Beginning in 2021, hydroelectric power generated elsewhere could count.
The bill cleared the House Thursday on a vote of 95-46 and now goes to the Senate.
Sponsors of the 2008 ballot measure criticized the bill, saying it would reverse possible economic development benefits from the law.
