What ballot summary did the Missouri Attorney General approve for the first version of James Owen's renewable energy initiative?
Plain-English summary
The summary statement is the question voters actually see when they sign an initiative petition or mark a ballot. The Secretary of State drafts it and the Attorney General checks it under § 116.334, RSMo, for legal content and form before it goes out.
For James Owen's first petition version (2020-142), the Secretary of State's draft summary asked voters:
Do you want to amend Missouri law regarding the renewable energy standard for investor-owned electric utilities as follows:
- increase the minimum renewable energy amount from the current 15% of retail sales in 2021 to 20% by 2025, with incremental increases to 40% by 2040;
- increase the solar energy minimum from the current 2% to 5% by 2025;
- eliminate the solar rebate program; and
- only allow the use of renewable energy credits that are associated with electricity the utility produced or purchased?
Attorney General Eric Schmitt approved the summary's legal content and form on February 18, 2020. The AG opinion expressly says the approval is not an endorsement of Owen's policy.
This opinion is the substantive companion to Opinion 12-2020 (summary statement for Owen v2, which raised the renewable energy floor to 50 percent by 2040 instead of 40 percent) and Opinion 13-2020 (summary statement for Owen v3).
Currency note
This opinion was issued in 2020. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.
Background and statutory framework
The summary statement review process under § 116.334, RSMo, is the third major AG checkpoint in the Missouri initiative process:
- Form review under § 116.332: does the petition follow drafting and format rules.
- Fiscal note summary review under § 116.175.4: is the dollar-figure paragraph legally sufficient.
- Summary statement review under § 116.334, is the ballot question wording legally sufficient.
The summary statement is the single piece of text the typical voter actually engages with. The Secretary of State drafts it, the AG reviews it for legal content and form, and then it appears on petition pages and on the ballot.
The AG's review is narrow. The opinion confirms that the summary is legally sufficient: meaning it accurately captures what the petition would do without being misleading on its face. It is not an endorsement of the petition's substance.
The four bullet points in the version 1 summary correspond to four substantive changes Owen wanted to make to Missouri's existing renewable energy standard:
- Higher renewable percentage: From 15 percent (the existing 2021 target) up to 40 percent by 2040.
- Higher solar carve-out: From 2 percent to 5 percent by 2025. The "solar carve-out" is a sub-share of the renewable mandate that has to come specifically from solar.
- Solar rebate program elimination: Existing Missouri law required investor-owned utilities to offer rebates to homeowners installing rooftop solar. Owen's amendment would have ended that program.
- Tighter renewable energy credit (REC) rules: Only allow utilities to count RECs tied to electricity the utility actually produced or purchased, rather than counting RECs purchased separately from third-party producers.
The version 2 summary (Opinion 12-2020) raised the renewable percentage cap to 50 percent by 2040, the version 3 summary returned to 50 percent. The differences across versions were technical drafting choices to hedge against legal challenges.
What this means for you
If you are a Missouri voter who signed or saw this summary
The AG's approval of the summary's legal content and form is a procedural confirmation, not an endorsement. The AG opinion does not tell you whether 50 percent renewable by 2040 is achievable, affordable, or sound policy.
If you are tracking renewable energy policy
The Owen petition trio is part of a broader citizen-initiated effort to push Missouri's renewable energy policy through the ballot rather than through the Legislature. The AG opinion documents the precise wording the proponent put in front of voters at the time.
If you are challenging a Missouri ballot summary
The court-based remedy is a § 116.190 action in Cole County Circuit Court. AG approval does not preclude such a challenge.
Common questions
Did Owen's renewable energy initiative make it to the ballot?
This opinion does not say. AG approval is a necessary procedural step, but the petition still had to clear signature collection and any pre-election court challenges.
What's the difference between the version 1 summary and version 2 summary?
Version 1 (this opinion) caps renewable energy at 40 percent by 2040. Version 2 (Opinion 12-2020) raises that to 50 percent by 2040. Other terms (5 percent solar by 2025, eliminate the rebate program, tighten REC rules) are common across versions.
Could the Secretary of State have written a different summary?
Yes. The Secretary's draft can highlight different aspects of the underlying petition, and Missouri courts have intervened when summaries are misleading. The AG review under § 116.334 is one filter; court challenge is another.
Citations
- § 116.334, RSMo (AG review of summary statements for legal content and form)
Source
- Landing page: https://ago.mo.gov/other-resources/ag-opinions/
- Original PDF: https://ago.mo.gov/wp-content/uploads/attachments/11-2020.pdf?sfvrsn=2
Original opinion text
Best-effort transcription from a scanned PDF. Minor errors may remain — the linked PDF is authoritative.
ATTORNEY GENERAL OF MISSOURI
ERIC SCHMITT
February 18, 2020
OPINION LETTER NO. 11-2020
The Honorable John R. Ashcroft
Missouri Secretary of State
James C. Kirkpatrick State Information Center
600 West Main Street
Jefferson City, MO 65101
Dear Secretary Ashcroft:
This opinion letter responds to your request dated February 7, 2020, for our review under § 116.334, RSMo, of a proposed summary statement prepared for the petition submitted by James Owen regarding a proposed amendment to amend Chapter 393, version 1, (2020-142). The proposed summary statement is as follows:
Do you want to amend Missouri law regarding the renewable energy standard for investor-owned electric utilities as follows:
- increase the minimum renewable energy amount from the current 15% of retail sales in 2021 to 20% by 2025, with incremental increases to 40% by 2040;
- increase the solar energy minimum from the current 2% to 5% by 2025;
- eliminate the solar rebate program; and
- only allow the use of renewable energy credits that are associated with electricity the utility produced or purchased?
Pursuant to § 116.334, RSMo, we approve the legal content and form of the proposed statement. Because our review of the statement is mandated by statute, no action that we take with respect to such review should be construed as an endorsement of the petition, nor as the expression of any view regarding the objectives of its proponents.
Very truly yours,
ERIC S. SCHMITT
Attorney General
Supreme Court Building
207 W. High Street
P.O. Box 899
Jefferson City, MO 65102
Phone: (573) 751-3321
Fax: (573) 751-0774
www.ago.mo.gov
OP-2020-0014