ST. LOUIS Consumers Council of Missouri (CCM) is commending Governor Jay Nixon today for his veto of Senate Bill 240, which relieves consumers from hundreds of millions of dollars more in surcharges on their gas utility bills over the next five years.

By vetoing SB 240, Governor Nixon also maintained the current balance in the ratemaking process, which gives consumers a fighting chance against the powerful gas companies, said Joan Bray, interim director of CCM. These companies enjoy privileged status as monopolies and healthy profits allowed by the regulators.

Bray noted that the governors veto message was sensitive to the portions of the bill that would cause stress on consumers budgets and give gas utilities even more of an upper hand in the regulatory process.

Governor Nixon fought for consumers the entire 16 years he was Missouris Attorney General. Today he continued that strong advocacy by using his veto pen, Bray said.

A statement made early in June in support of the bill by Rep. Doug Funderburk (R-103 - St. Peters), chair of the House Utilities Committee, may be found here.

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