ST. LOUIS, Oct. 1, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Ameren Missouri
filed today with the Missouri Public Service Commission its 20-year
plan that supports cleaner energy in the state of Missouri, including major expansions of solar
and wind power.
The utility's "Integrated Resource Plan" examines electric
customers' projected long-term energy needs and describes Ameren
Missouri's preferred approach to meeting those needs in a
cost-effective fashion that maintains system reliability as it
moves to cleaner and more diverse sources of energy generation.
"We are committed to accomplishing this transition to cleaner
energy in a way that is cost-effective and environmentally
responsible while maintaining the reliability our customers
expect," said Michael Moehn,
chairman, president and CEO of Ameren Missouri. "The plan we have
developed and are executing on also calls for preserving energy
efficiency programs that help residents and businesses save money,
because the cost of saving a kilowatt-hour of electricity is
generally less expensive than the cost of generating it from a new
resource."
Many of Missouri's electric
generation units are nearing half a century old, and Ameren
Missouri's comprehensive plan calls for transitioning its
generation fleet to a cleaner and more fuel-diverse portfolio over
the next two decades as energy centers reach the end of their
useful lives.
Ameren Missouri, a subsidiary of Ameren Corporation (NYSE: AEE),
would add nearly 500 megawatts (MW) of renewable power generation
under the plan, which, together with other planned changes to its
generation resources, would allow the utility to achieve a 30
percent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by 2035, based on
2005 levels.
The plan includes construction in 2016 of a second solar energy
center that would be the largest in the state of Missouri. Earlier this year, Ameren Missouri
broke ground on its first utility-scale solar energy center in
O'Fallon, Mo., which is scheduled for completion later this
year.
Major components of the plan include:
- Significantly expanding renewable generation by adding 400 MW
of wind power, 45 MW of solar, 28 MW of hydroelectric and 5 MW of
landfill gas.
- Continuing to offer energy efficiency programs to customers
through the utility's ActOnEnergy program and adding demand
response programs when they are cost-effective.
- Retiring approximately one-third (about 1,800 MW) of Ameren
Missouri's current coal-fired generating capacity. This includes
converting two units at Meramec Energy Center to natural gas in
2016, and retiring the remaining units at Meramec by the end of
2022 and the Sioux Energy Center by the end of 2033.
- Reducing emissions of Ameren Missouri's existing coal fleet by
continuing to make investments in pollution-control equipment.
- Continuing to rely on Ameren Missouri's existing, low-cost and
dependable nuclear generation while preserving options for future
carbon-free nuclear generation.
- Adding 600 MW of efficient combined-cycle and clean-burning
natural gas generation in 2034.
Ameren Missouri's plan calls for relying on a diverse mix of
coal, nuclear, natural gas and renewable resources and energy
efficiency programs to make sure customers get the dependable power
they require while keeping rates reasonably priced. "Ameren
Missouri residential rates are more than 20 percent below the
national average, 16 percent below the average of Midwest states
and the lowest of any investor-owned utility in the state of
Missouri — and it's important for
us to maintain rates that are reasonably priced," Moehn said.
Ameren Missouri's planned CO2 emissions reductions by
2035 position the company to address the CO2
reductions proposed in June by the federal Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA). The EPA's Clean Power Plan targets a 30
percent reduction in CO2 emissions from the power sector
by 2030. Ameren Missouri's Integrated Resource Plan allows the
utility to achieve significant reductions in CO2
emissions over a slightly longer time frame but would save its
customers an estimated $4
billion.
Ameren Missouri files an Integrated Resource Plan with the
Missouri Public Service Commission every three years to help the
utility gather input from other parties in the state. The full plan
and a summary can be found at AmerenMissouri.com/IRP.
Ameren Missouri has been providing electric and gas service for
more than 100 years, and the company's electric rates are among the
lowest in the nation. Ameren Missouri's mission is to power the
quality of life for its 1.2 million electric and 127,000 natural
gas customers in central and eastern Missouri. The company's service area covers 64
counties and more than 500 communities, including the greater
St. Louis area. For more
information please visit AmerenMissouri.com or follow Ameren
Missouri on Facebook or Twitter.
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 Missouri's
Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2013 and elsewhere in this release
and in its 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 Missouri's July 2014 electric
rate case filing and future regulatory, judicial, or legislative
actions that seek to change regulatory recovery mechanisms;
- the effects of increased competition in the future due to,
among other things, deregulation of certain aspects of our business
at either the state or federal levels and the implementation of
deregulation;
- changes in laws and other governmental actions, including
monetary, fiscal, and tax policies;
- 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;
- the timing of increasing capital expenditure and operating
expense requirements and our ability to timely 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 our 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 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;
- generation, transmission, and distribution asset construction,
installation, performance, and cost recovery;
- 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 and unplanned outages, and decommissioning
costs;
- the effects of strategic initiatives, including mergers,
acquisitions and divestitures, and any related tax
implications;
- the impact of current environmental regulations and new, more
stringent or changing requirements, including those related to
greenhouse gases, other emissions and discharges, cooling water
intake structures, coal combustion residuals, 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 or investment requirements, result in an impairment of
our assets, cause us to sell 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 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 Ameren Missouri's energy sales;
- legal and administrative proceedings; and
- acts of sabotage, war, terrorism, cyber 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 Missouri