Missouri Press Association
Serving Missouri Newspapers Since 1867
Missouri News Network: Statehouse News for MPA Members
This report is written by Missouri School of Journalism students for publication by MPA member newspapers in print and online.
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Send questions about this story to Mark Horvit (horvitm@missouri.edu).
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Shortly after taking office, President Donald Trump signed two executive orders aimed at increasing energy generation in the United States. But regulators and utilities in Missouri still don’t know what Trump’s “energy emergency” means for them.
One order declared a “national energy emergency” and another is aimed at “unleashing American energy.”
The language in both orders encourages the immediate expansion of energy generation and is critical of former President Joe Biden’s policies to increase renewable energy sources such as wind and solar.
Zach Smith is the communications specialist for Boone Electric Cooperative, an electricity distributor in mid-Missouri.
“We haven't had any discussion about what they mean internally here at Boone Electric as far as day-to-day operations,” he said of Trump’s energy executive orders.
Smith said it's not immediately clear what impact the orders will have on local energy providers and their customers.
“It may take a while to filter from, you know, D.C. to what it actually means for folks here at the end of our lines,” he said.
Forrest Gossett is the communications director for the Missouri Public Service Commission, the state agency that regulates utilities. He said nothing about the department’s work is currently affected by the orders.
“We are monitoring developments out of Washington. But at this point, we're doing our jobs as normal, because there are no new regulations,” Gossett said. “The President has signed an order, but there's nothing that's been issued that would alter the way we do our business.”
Gossett said the commission is very concerned with ensuring a reliable power supply and awaits further information from the federal government.
In an emailed statement to KBIA, officials with the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, or MISO, the regional transmission operator that covers northeast Missouri and the Upper Midwest said, “We are evaluating the impact of the executive orders to determine our next steps.”
In response to an interview request about the potential impact of President Trump’s executive orders, representatives of Spire — the gas utility that serves much of western and eastern Missouri — said in an emailed statement, “As a provider of essential energy, we’re focused on safely serving natural gas to more than 1.7 million utility customers throughout numerous communities in our service areas. Our approach to providing the best possible service to these customers stays the same.”
Evergy — the electric provider for much of western Missouri — declined to comment.
Increasing electric demand and energy transition
The increasing demand for energy is a frequent topic of discussion in the power industry. The Missouri Public Service Commission held two summits in the last year to address concerns about running out of power.
Electric cars, the electrification of homes and the build out of electricity-hungry AI data centers have utilities projecting an increased need for power in the future.
“The demand, the need for more electricity is always going up,” Smith said. “As demand comes online, we've got to be able to provide the electricity to support that.”
Boone Electric Cooperative has more than 35,000 electric meters and approximately 28,000 members throughout Boone County and the surrounding area. The electric distributor gets power from the Springfield-based Associated Electric Cooperative that generates energy from coal, gas, water and wind.
Smith said broadly, labeling the current energy situation an emergency “does speak to the seriousness of what kind of situation we could potentially find ourselves” with supply and demand.
As coal plants are slated to be taken offline “the generation that those power plants produce has to be replaced somehow before you can turn them off,” Smith said.
The national energy emergency executive order from the White House states that “the harmful and shortsighted policies of the previous administration” are responsible for “our Nation’s inadequate energy supply and infrastructure.” Trump regularly spoke negatively about wind power during the campaign.
Largely through the Inflation Reduction Act, Biden encouraged the development of renewable energy and transmission lines.
Smith said electric cooperatives in Missouri continue to value and invest in renewable energy generation.
Less than a month after Trump took office, Ameren Missouri — the electricity provider for most of mid-Missouri — announced plans to add 1.5 gigawatts of new energy by 2032.
The company filed a $16.2 billion, five-year plan with the Missouri Public Service Commission.
The proposed investments include new gas, solar and wind generation, as well as battery storage. The utility is planning for new nuclear energy generation by 2040 and an extension to operate the Callaway Energy Center beyond 2044.
Ameren officials told KBIA the plans were not related to the federal executive orders that encourage more energy production. Instead, the investments are part of the company’s long-term planning.
“Many of our customers … really have a strong desire for clean, reliable energy, and so we're committed to doing that,” said Rob Dixon, Ameren Missouri’s senior director of economic and community development.
“We're committed to working with all of our stakeholders — whether they're federal, state, local, and certainly with our community and business partners — to make sure that we're meeting all those requirements that are out there," he said.
