While state legislators continue to debate whether to allow AmerenUE to charge customers for the construction of a new nuclear power plant in Callaway County before it is completed, Columbia City Council members and Mayor Darwin Hindman are debating what to do when and if it is built.
Hindman has already sent a letter to AmerenUE President and CEO Thomas Voss saying he is interested in the power the plan could provide for Columbia, replacing or adding to what is generated at the coal-powered Municipal Power Plant.
Current council members were almost unanimously critical of Hindman for expressing his personal opinion under the city letterhead, but they have yet to reach any sort of consensus on the project.
Council member Barbara Hoppe, who is running for re-election in the Sixth Ward, told the Missourian that she is concerned about the cost of the project, which was never a part of Columbia’s plan for future energy needs. Other council candidates said they would support getting power from the plant under varying circumstances.
A lot of information important to voting is still not known. There is still no go-ahead for the plant to be built and it is not known how much power would be provided or how much it would cost. The construction of a nuclear power plant and how the energy would be used is a debate that is going to continue for months.
Do you think Columbia should continue to seek more information about getting power from a new nuclear power plant?