Springfield City Utilities plans to remain focused on natural gas, wind power and solar energy in the future, despite the Trump administration's intention to repeal the EPA's Obama-era Clean Power Plan.

Trump has indicated the repeal would help revive the nation's coal mining industry, even though many power plants across the country already have turned to renewable energy and lower-cost natural gas to meet customer demand for electricity.

Scott Miller, general manager at CU, said the proposed repeal of the Clean Power Plan "has the potential to impact us in the future," but only if it significantly cuts the cost of coal.

He said the JTEC2 power plant which came online in 2011 likely was the last coal-fired power plant CU would build. It was designed to handle Springfield area power needs until 2024.

The arrival of lower-cost natural gas and renewable energy will keep CU focused on those sources for a while if demand for power grows, Miller said.

"We talked about this 10 years ago, and I'm surprised we are so far along as we are (with renewables)," Miller said. "We're out right now for requests for more renewables. We haven't decided on that yet, but there's some good pricing out there. We are going to look at additional renewables."

The Clean Power Plan's goal was to significantly reduce carbon emissions from power plants. Miller said the wind energy and solar power field CU has in its energy portfolio "absolutely" help CU reduce its carbon footprint.

Despite the apparent lack of impact on CU, several Missouri lawmakers applauded the EPA's planned rollback of the Clean Power Plan in news releases this week.

"With today’s announcement, hardworking Missourians no longer have to fear that they’ll be facing a double-digit increase in their utility bills because of the previous administration’s harmful energy regulations,” said Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo.

“The excessive new rules would have amounted to an additional tax anytime someone flipped on a light switch, harvested a crop, or paid for groceries, low and middle-income families that would have been hit hardest by these regulations."

U.S. Rep. Billy Long also praised the move by the Trump administration.

"I believe in an all-of-the-above energy approach but not at the expense of hardworking Americans,” Long said. “Today, President Trump made the right choice by rolling back the Obama-era Clean Power Plan. This is the right move for our economy; it will save consumers $33 billion by 2030. I'm proud to stand with the president in doing away with regulations that unnecessarily burden businesses.”

The Sierra Club's Missouri Chapter, meanwhile, called the Clean Power Plan repeal "a costly attack on Missourians’ health."

"The Clean Power Plan protects the health of Missouri families by curbing dangerous carbon pollution and reducing other toxic pollutants from coal-fired power plants," the Sierra Club said in a news release. "A 2014 study by the Harvard School of Public Health estimated that the policy would prevent 1,200 premature deaths in Missouri between 2020 and 2030."

It notes that municipal utilities in Springfield, Columbia, Independence, and Kirkwood have found renewable energy significantly less costly than the coal-based energy.

“Renewable energy is the future," the Sierra Club said. "Our state is moving beyond coal. It is time for the Trump administration to do so.”