ST.
LOUIS, Sept. 26, 2023 /PRNewswire/
-- Today Ameren Missouri, a subsidiary of Ameren
Corporation (NYSE: AEE), announced its updated 20-year plan to
provide reliable, affordable and resilient energy to its customers.
The plan calls for investment in new on-demand energy sources to
ensure the long-term stability of the energy grid and accelerated
deployment of renewable energy generation. The Company's plan is
environmentally responsible and consistent with its sustainability
goals.
LONG-TERM ENERGY PLAN FOCUSES ON MEETING CUSTOMERS' RISING
NEEDS AND EXPECTATIONS
Ameren Missouri's Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) is designed to
meet the projected energy needs of its customers in an increasingly
electrified future. It includes a balanced mix of energy sources to
support continued reliability even under extreme weather
conditions.
"Thoughtfully integrating a new, diverse mix of generation
sources while maintaining the availability of our existing energy
centers through retirement is essential for a reliable, resilient
and affordable clean energy future," said Mark Birk, chairman and president of Ameren
Missouri. "By making smart investments in an environmentally
responsible way, we're strengthening the energy grid without
compromising on affordability."
Highlights of the 2023 IRP include:
- Deploying an 800-megawatt (MW) on-demand, natural gas
simple-cycle energy center by 2027, representing a potential
investment of $800 million, to
provide backup power at times of peak winter and summer energy
demand.
- Moving back the previously announced addition of a
combined-cycle energy center to 2033. This 1,200-MW facility is now
scheduled to go in service following the retirement of the Sioux
Energy Center in 2032.
- Accelerating Ameren Missouri's planned renewable energy
additions by four years. The company plans to add 4,700 MW of new
renewable energy by 2036. This represents a total potential
investment of approximately $9.5
billion. The company maintains its goal of 2,800 MW by
2030.
- Adding 800 MW of battery storage, including 400 MW by 2030 –
five years earlier than previously planned – with an additional 400
MW of battery storage by 2035. This represents a total potential
investment of $1.3 billion through
2035.
- Planning 1,200 MW of clean, on-demand generation to be ready to
serve customers in 2040 and an additional 1,200 MW by 2043.
"Our strategic investments are timed to keep rates as low as
possible for our customers while making efficient system upgrades
to provide clean, reliable and affordable energy for the
long-term," said Ajay Arora,
senior vice president and chief renewable development officer at
Ameren Missouri.
Since last updating Ameren Missouri's long-term plans in
June 2022, the company has:
- Retired the coal-fired Meramec Energy Center at the end of
2022.
- Proposed a 2024 retirement of the coal-fired Rush Island Energy
Center based on the projected completion date of grid reliability
updates. The ultimate retirement date is subject to approval by the
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri.
- Received approval to acquire, upon projected completion next
year, two solar facilities with combined capacity of 350 MW.
- Announced plans to acquire or build an additional 550 MW of
solar capacity targeted to be ready to serve customers between next
year and 2026.
Customers will continue to have the ability to manage their
electric bills through robust, cost-effective energy efficiency and
demand response programs. Between 2020 and 2022, these programs
have saved more than 930,000 megawatt-hours of energy. That's
equivalent to the energy used by nearly 76,000 average residential
homes in a year.
TARGETING NET-ZERO CARBON EMISSIONS BY 2045
Ameren's companywide goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2045
is science based and consistent with the objectives of the Paris
Agreement and limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees
Celsius. This goal encompasses both Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions,
including other greenhouse gas emissions of methane, nitrous oxide
and sulfur hexafluoride. This goal is dependent on a variety of
factors, including cost-effective advancements in innovative clean
energy technologies as well as constructive federal and state
energy and economic policies. Interim targets include reducing
carbon emissions 60% by 2030 and 85% by 2040, in each case based on
2005 levels.
Additional details about Ameren Missouri's plans to accelerate
investments in long-term reliability for Missourians are available
at AmerenMissouri.com/Reliable.
About Ameren Missouri
Ameren Missouri has been
providing electric and gas service for more than 100 years. Ameren
Missouri's mission is to power the quality of life for its 1.2
million electric and 135,000 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, visit Ameren.com/Missouri or follow us on Twitter at
@AmerenMissouri or Facebook.com/AmerenMissouri.
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, projections, strategies, targets, estimates, objectives,
events, conditions, and financial performance. In connection with
the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995, Ameren and Ameren Missouri 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's and Ameren Missouri's Annual Report on Form
10-K for the year ended December 31,
2022, and elsewhere in this release and in our other filings
with the Securities and Exchange Commission, could cause actual
results to differ materially from management expectations suggested
in such forward-looking statements:
- regulatory, judicial, or legislative actions, and any changes
in regulatory policies and ratemaking determinations, that may
change regulatory recovery mechanisms, such as those that may
result from the impact of a final ruling to be issued by
the United States District Court
for the Eastern District of Missouri regarding its September 2019 remedy order for the Rush Island
Energy Center and the Missouri Public Service Commission ("MoPSC")
staff review of the planned Rush Island Energy Center
retirement;
- our ability to control costs and make substantial investments
in our businesses, including our ability to recover costs and
investments, and to earn our allowed returns on equity, within
frameworks established by our regulators, while maintaining
affordability of our services for our customers;
- the effect on Ameren Missouri of any customer rate caps or
limitations on increasing the electric service revenue requirement
pursuant to Ameren Missouri's election to use the plant-in-service
accounting;
- Ameren Missouri's ability to construct and/or acquire wind,
solar, and other renewable energy generation facilities and battery
storage, as well as natural gas-fired combined cycle energy
centers, retire fossil fuel-fired energy centers, and implement new
or existing customer energy-efficiency programs, including any such
construction, acquisition, retirement, or implementation in
connection with its Smart Energy Plan, integrated resource plan, or
emissions reduction goals, and to recover its cost of investment, a
related return, and, in the case of customer energy-efficiency
programs, any lost margins in a timely manner, each of which is
affected by the ability to obtain all necessary regulatory and
project approvals, including certificates of convenience and
necessity from the MoPSC or any other required approvals for the
addition of renewable resources;
- Ameren Missouri's ability to use or transfer federal production
and investment tax credits related to renewable energy projects;
the cost of wind, solar, and other renewable generation and storage
technologies; and our ability to obtain timely interconnection
agreements with the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, Inc.,
a regional transmission organization ("MISO") or other regional
transmission organizations at an acceptable cost for each
facility;
- the success of competitive bids related to requests for
proposals associated with the MISO's long-range transmission
planning;
- the inability of our counterparties to meet their obligations
with respect to contracts, credit agreements, and financial
instruments, including as they relate to the construction and
acquisition of electric and natural gas utility infrastructure and
the ability of counterparties to complete projects, which is
dependent upon the availability of necessary materials and
equipment, including those obligations that are affected by supply
chain disruptions;
- advancements in energy technologies, including carbon capture,
utilization, and sequestration, hydrogen fuel for electric
production and energy storage, next generation nuclear, large-scale
long-cycle battery energy storage, and the impact of federal and
state energy and economic policies with respect to those
technologies;
- the effects of changes in federal, state, or local laws and
other governmental actions, including monetary, fiscal, foreign
trade, and energy policies;
- the effects of changes in federal, state, or local tax laws or
rates, including the effects of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022
("IRA") and the 15% minimum tax on adjusted financial statement
income, as well as additional regulations, interpretations,
amendments, or technical corrections to or in connection with the
IRA, and challenges, if any, to the tax positions taken by us, as
well as resulting effects on customer rates and the recoverability
of the minimum tax imposed under the IRA;
- the effects on energy prices and demand for our services
resulting from technological advances, including advances in
customer energy efficiency, electric vehicles, electrification of
various industries, energy storage, and private generation sources,
which generate electricity at the site of consumption and are
becoming more cost-competitive;
- the cost and availability of fuel, such as low-sulfur coal,
natural gas, and enriched uranium used to produce electricity; the
cost and availability of natural gas for distribution and purchased
power, including capacity, zero emission credits, renewable energy
credits, and emission allowances; and the level and volatility of
future market prices for such commodities and credits;
- disruptions in the delivery of fuel, failure of our fuel
suppliers to provide adequate quantities or quality of fuel, or
lack of adequate inventories of fuel, including nuclear fuel
assemblies from the one Nuclear Regulatory Commission-licensed
supplier of Ameren Missouri's Callaway Energy Center
assemblies;
- the cost and availability of transmission capacity for the
energy generated by Ameren Missouri's energy centers or required to
satisfy our energy sales;
- the effectiveness of our risk management strategies and our use
of financial and derivative instruments;
- the ability to obtain sufficient insurance, or, in the absence
of insurance, the ability to timely recover uninsured losses from
our customers;
- the impact of cyberattacks and data security risks on us or our
suppliers, which could, among other things, result in the loss of
operational control of energy centers and electric and natural gas
transmission and distribution systems and/or the loss of data, such
as customer, employee, financial, and operating system
information;
- acts of sabotage, which have increased in frequency and
severity within the utility industry, war, terrorism, or other
intentionally disruptive acts;
- business, economic, and capital market conditions, including
the impact of such conditions on interest rates, inflation, and
investments;
- the impact of inflation or a recession on our customers and the
related impact on our results of operations, financial position,
and liquidity;
- disruptions of the capital and credit markets, deterioration in
our credit metrics, or other events that may have an adverse effect
on the cost or availability of capital, including short-term credit
and liquidity, and our ability to access the capital and credit
markets on reasonable terms when needed;
- the 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 and
the level of wind and solar resources;
- the construction, installation, performance, and cost recovery
of generation, transmission, and distribution assets;
- the ability to maintain system reliability during the
transition to clean energy generation by Ameren Missouri and the
electric utility industry, including within the MISO, as well as
Ameren Missouri's ability to meet generation capacity
obligations;
- the effects of failures of electric generation, electric and
natural gas transmission or distribution, or natural gas storage
facilities systems and equipment, which could result in
unanticipated liabilities or unplanned outages;
- the operation of Ameren Missouri's Callaway Energy Center,
including planned and unplanned outages, as well as the ability to
recover costs associated with such outages and the impact of such
outages on off-system sales and purchased power, among other
things;
- Ameren Missouri's ability to recover the remaining investment
and decommissioning costs associated with the retirement of an
energy center, as well as the ability to earn a return on that
remaining investment and those decommissioning costs;
- the impact of current environmental laws and new, more
stringent, or changing requirements, including those related to New
Source Review provisions of the Clean Air Act, carbon dioxide,
nitrogen oxides, and other emissions and discharges, Illinois emission standards, cooling water
intake structures, coal combustion residuals, energy efficiency,
and wildlife protection, that could limit or terminate the
operation of certain of Ameren Missouri's energy centers, increase
our operating 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 standards in
Missouri;
- the effectiveness of Ameren Missouri's customer
energy-efficiency programs and the related revenues and performance
incentives earned under its Missouri Energy Efficiency Investment
Act programs;
- labor disputes, work force reductions, changes in future wage
and employee benefits costs, including those resulting from changes
in discount rates, mortality tables, returns on benefit plan
assets, and other assumptions;
- the impact of negative opinions of us or our utility services
that our customers, investors, legislators, regulators, creditors,
or other stakeholders may have or develop, which could result from
a variety of factors, including failures in system reliability,
failure to implement our investment plans or to protect sensitive
customer information, increases in rates, negative media coverage,
or concerns about environmental, social, and/or governance
practices;
- the impact of adopting new accounting guidance;
- the effects of strategic initiatives, including mergers,
acquisitions, and divestitures;
- legal and administrative proceedings;
- pandemics or other health events, and their impacts on our
results of operations, financial position, and liquidity; and
- the impacts of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, related sanctions imposed by the U.S.
and other governments, and any broadening of the conflict,
including potential impacts on the cost and availability of fuel,
natural gas, enriched uranium, and other commodities, materials,
and services, the inability of our counterparties to perform their
obligations, disruptions in the capital and credit markets, and
other impacts on business, economic, and geopolitical conditions,
including inflation.
New factors emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for
us to predict all of such factors, nor can we assess the impact of
each such factor on the business or the extent to which any factor,
or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ
materially from those contained or implied in any forward-looking
statement. Given these uncertainties, undue reliance should not be
placed on these forward-looking statements. Except to the extent
required by the federal securities laws, Ameren and Ameren Missouri
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 Missouri