ST. LOUIS, Dec. 2, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Ameren Corporation
(NYSE: AEE) today announced it has completed the divestiture of its
merchant generation business, formerly known as Ameren Energy
Resources Company, LLC (AER), to an affiliate of Dynegy Inc. (NYSE:
DYN). AER consisted primarily of Ameren Energy Generating Company
(Genco), including Genco's 80 percent ownership interest in
Electric Energy, Inc.; AmerenEnergy Resources Generating Company;
and Ameren Energy Marketing Company.
The divestiture enables Ameren to focus on its strategic
objectives to strengthen and grow its rate-regulated electric,
natural gas and transmission operations and to allocate its growth
capital to higher expected return opportunities. The transaction is
also expected to improve the predictability of the company's
earnings and cash flows.
"The completion of this transaction is an important achievement
for Ameren's shareholders and our customers," said Thomas R. Voss, chairman, president and CEO of
Ameren Corporation. "By exiting merchant generation, Ameren
Corporation is better positioned to deliver greater value as we
execute our plans to deploy capital to strengthen our regulated
transmission, distribution and generation assets. These planned
investments will help sustain reliable service for our customers,
increase access to renewable energy and drive enhanced shareholder
value. The transaction also positions AER to participate in the
benefits of being part of Dynegy's larger merchant
organization."
In addition, in October Ameren entered into an agreement to sell
three merchant gas-fired energy centers, which were not part of the
Dynegy transaction, to a special purpose entity affiliated with and
formed by Rockland Capital. This transaction includes a
478-megawatt combined cycle facility in Grand Tower, Ill.; a 460-megawatt simple cycle
facility in Elgin, Ill.; and a
228-megawatt simple cycle facility in Gibson City, Ill. With this sale, expected to
be finalized by year-end, Ameren will complete its exit from the
merchant generation business.
About Ameren
St. Louis-based Ameren
Corporation serves 2.4 million electric customers and more than
900,000 natural gas customers in a 64,000-square-mile area through
our Ameren Missouri and Ameren Illinois rate-regulated utility
subsidiaries. Ameren Illinois provides electric and natural gas
delivery as well as local electric transmission service. Ameren
Missouri provides vertically integrated electric service, with
generating capacity of 10,300 megawatts, and natural gas delivery
service. Ameren Transmission of Illinois develops regional electric
transmission projects. For more information, visit
Ameren.com.
Forward-looking Statements
Statements in this release not based on historical facts are
considered "forward-looking" and, accordingly, involve risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially
from those discussed. Although such forward-looking statements have
been made in good faith and are based on reasonable assumptions,
there is no assurance that the expected results will be achieved.
These statements include (without limitation) statements as to
future expectations, beliefs, plans, strategies, objectives,
events, conditions, and financial performance. In connection with
the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995, we are providing this cautionary statement to
identify important factors that could cause actual results to
differ materially from those anticipated. The following factors, in
addition to those discussed under Risk Factors in the Form 10-K,
and in the Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended March 31, 2013, and elsewhere in this release and
in our other filings with the SEC, could cause actual results to
differ materially from management expectations suggested in such
forward-looking statements:
- completion of the sale of the Elgin, Gibson
City, and Grand Tower
gas-fired energy centers;
- Ameren's exit from the Merchant Generation business, which
could result in additional impairments of long-lived assets,
disposal-related losses, contingencies, reduction of existing
deferred tax assets, or could have other adverse impacts on the
financial condition, results of operations and liquidity of
Ameren;
- regulatory, judicial, or legislative actions, including changes
in regulatory policies and ratemaking determinations, such as the
outcome of Ameren Illinois' natural gas delivery service rate case
filed in 2013; the court appeals of Ameren Illinois' electric rate
order issued in 2012; Ameren Missouri's request with the MoPSC for
an accounting authority order relating to the deferral of certain
fixed costs; Ameren Illinois' request for rehearing of FERC's
July 2012 and June 2013 orders regarding the alleged inclusion
of acquisition premiums in Ameren Illinois transmission rates; and
future regulatory, judicial, or legislative actions that seek to
change regulatory recovery mechanisms;
- the effect of Ameren Illinois participating in a
performance-based formula ratemaking process under the IEIMA,
including the direct relationship between Ameren Illinois' return
on common equity and the 30-year United States Treasury bond
yields, the related financial commitments required by the IEIMA,
and the resulting uncertain impact on the financial condition,
results of operations and liquidity of Ameren Illinois;
- the effects of Ameren Illinois' expected participation,
beginning in 2014, in the regulatory framework provided by the
state of Illinois' recently
enacted Natural Gas Consumer, Safety and Reliability Act, which
allows for the use of a rider to recover costs of certain
infrastructure investments made between rate cases;
- the effects of, or changes to, the Illinois power procurement process;
- the effects of increased competition in the future due to,
among other things, deregulation of certain aspects of our business
at both the state and federal levels, and the implementation of
deregulation;
- changes in laws and other governmental actions, including
monetary, fiscal, and tax policies, such as changes that result in
our being unable to claim all or a portion of the cash tax benefits
that are expected to result from the divestiture of AER;
- the effects on demand for our services resulting from
technological advances, including advances in energy efficiency and
distributed generation sources, which generate electricity at the
site of consumption;
- increasing capital expenditure and operating expense
requirements and our ability to recover these costs;
- the cost and availability of fuel such as coal, natural gas,
and enriched uranium used to produce electricity; the cost and
availability of purchased power and natural gas for distribution;
and the level and volatility of future market prices for such
commodities, including the ability to recover the costs for such
commodities;
- the effectiveness of our risk management strategies and the use
of financial and derivative instruments;
- business and economic conditions, including their impact on
interest rates, bad debt expense, and demand for our products;
- disruptions of the capital markets, deterioration in credit
metrics of the Ameren Companies, or other events that make the
Ameren Companies' access to necessary capital, including short-term
credit and liquidity, impossible, more difficult, or more
costly;
- our assessment of our liquidity;
- the impact of the adoption of new accounting guidance and the
application of appropriate technical accounting rules and
guidance;
- actions of credit rating agencies and the effects of such
actions;
- the impact of weather conditions and other natural phenomena on
us and our customers, including the impacts of droughts, which may
cause lower river levels and could limit our energy centers'
ability to generate power;
- the impact of system outages;
- generation, transmission, and distribution asset construction,
installation, performance, and cost recovery;
- the effects of our increasing investment in electric
transmission projects and uncertainty as to whether we will achieve
our expected investment and returns in a timely fashion, if at
all;
- the extent to which Ameren Missouri prevails in its claims
against insurers in connection with its Taum Sauk pumped-storage
hydroelectric energy center incident;
- the extent to which Ameren Missouri is permitted by its
regulators to recover in rates the investments it made in
connection with additional nuclear generation at its Callaway energy center;
- operation of Ameren Missouri's Callaway energy center, including planned,
unplanned and refueling outages, and future decommissioning
costs;
- the effects of strategic initiatives, including mergers,
acquisitions and divestitures, including the divestiture of the
merchant generation business, and any related tax
implications;
- the impact of current environmental regulations on utilities
and power generating companies and new, more stringent or changing
requirements, including those related to greenhouse gases, other
emissions and discharges, cooling water intake structures, CCR, and
energy efficiency, that are enacted over time and that could limit
or terminate the operation of certain of our energy centers,
increase our costs, result in an impairment of our assets, result
in sales of our assets, reduce our customers' demand for
electricity or natural gas, or otherwise have a negative financial
effect;
- the impact of complying with renewable energy portfolio
requirements in Missouri;
- labor disputes, workforce reductions, future wage and employee
benefits costs, including changes in discount rates and returns on
benefit plan assets;
- the inability of our counterparties and affiliates to meet
their obligations with respect to contracts, credit agreements, and
financial instruments;
- the cost and availability of transmission capacity for the
energy generated by Ameren Missouri's energy centers or required to
satisfy energy sales made by Ameren Missouri;
- legal and administrative proceedings; and
- acts of sabotage, war, terrorism, cybersecurity attacks or
intentionally disruptive acts.
Given these uncertainties, undue reliance should not be placed
on these forward-looking statements. Except to the extent required
by the federal securities laws, we undertake no obligation to
update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements to reflect
new information or future events.
SOURCE Ameren Corporation