COLLINSVILLE, Ill.,
July 27, 2015 /PRNewswire/
-- Ameren Illinois customers are experiencing fewer and
shorter power outages as a result of electric grid upgrades the
company has implemented under the state's Energy Infrastructure
Modernization Act (EIMA). These reliability improvements are saving
its customers an estimated $48
million each year.
Since the modernization program began in 2012, the installation
of storm-resilient utility poles, automated switches, and an
upgraded distribution grid have resulted in 238,000 fewer annual
electricity service interruptions on average. And when customers do
experience an outage, Ameren Illinois is restoring power 19 percent
faster on average than in previous years.
"By all measures, the modernization plan is working for our
customers and for Illinois," said
Richard Mark, President of Ameren
Illinois. "Reliability has improved 17 percent, outages are down
and good paying jobs are being created at a time when our state
sorely needs them."
More than 330 employees and an additional 1,000 contract workers
have been hired to support investments in Ameren Illinois' electric
system and operations. In addition, Ameren Illinois is on track to
exceed its EIMA full-time equivalent job creation commitment of 450
direct, contractor, or induced jobs during its peak program year.
Under EIMA, Ameren Illinois expects to invest an additional
$122.2 million on system improvements
in 2015 towards a total expected investment of $643 million over the 10 year life of the
program.
The company also reports that it is ahead of schedule in
installing advanced meters, two-way devices that will provide
customers with enhanced energy usage data and access to tools and
programs to help them use less energy. In 2015, Ameren Illinois
plans to deploy 142,000 electric meters at customer locations in
central and southern Illinois.
This month, Ameren Illinois launched a suite of on-line tools to
help its customers develop personalized energy savings plans.
"Today our customers have access to information that puts them
firmly in control of their energy bills," said Mark. "Over time the
upgrades will help us detect and isolate outages faster while
giving our customers even more ways to manage their usage and
contain costs."
The 2014 National Grid Modernization Index, developed by the
GridWise alliance and the Smart Grid Policy Center, ranks
Illinois 3rd in the nation for its
grid modernization policies, investments, and activities, trailing
only Texas and California. Illinois moved up from 10th place
in 2013.
To learn more about Ameren Illinois' modernization program,
visit AmerenIllinois.com/focus or follow the company at
Facebook.com/AmerenIllinois and on Twitter @AmerenIllinois.
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 Ameren Illinois'
Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2014, 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:
- regulatory, judicial, or legislative actions, including changes
in regulatory policies and ratemaking determinations, such as
Ameren Illinois' April 2015 annual
electric delivery service formula update filing 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 EIMA,
including the direct relationship between Ameren Illinois' return
on common equity and 30-year United States Treasury bond yields,
the related financial commitments required by the EIMA, and the
resulting uncertain impact on the financial condition, results of
operations, and liquidity of Ameren Illinois;
- our ability to align our overall spending, both operating and
capital, with regulatory frameworks established by our regulators
in an attempt to earn our allowed return on equity;
- the effects of increased competition in the future due to,
among other factors, deregulation of certain aspects of our
business at either the state or federal level;
- changes in laws and other governmental actions, including
monetary, fiscal, tax, and energy policies;
- the effects on demand for our services resulting from
technological advances, including advances in customer energy
efficiency and distributed generation sources, which generate
electricity at the site of consumption;
- the timing of increasing capital expenditure and operating
expense requirements and our ability to recover these costs in a
timely manner;
- the cost and availability of purchased power for distribution,
and the level and volatility of future market prices for such
commodity, including our ability to recover the costs for such
commodity and our customers' tolerance for the related rate
increases;
- the effectiveness of our risk management strategies and our use
of financial and derivative instruments;
- business and economic conditions, including their impact on key
customers, interest rates, collection of our receivable balances,
and demand for our products;
- disruptions of the capital markets, deterioration in credit
metrics of the Ameren companies, or other events that may have an
adverse effect on the cost or availability of capital, including
short-term credit and liquidity;
- 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 impact of system outages;
- the construction, installation, performance, and cost recovery
of transmission and distribution assets;
- the effects of strategic initiatives, including mergers,
acquisitions and divestitures, and any related tax
implications;
- labor disputes, work force reductions, future wage and employee
benefits costs, including changes in discount rates, mortality
tables, and returns on benefit plan assets;
- the inability of our counterparties to meet their obligations
with respect to contracts, credit agreements, and financial
instruments;
- legal and administrative proceedings; and
- acts of sabotage, war, terrorism, cyber attacks, or other
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.
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SOURCE Ameren Illinois