Ameren Missouri to Reduce CO2 Emissions 30 Percent Below 2005 Levels

Ameren Missouri has filed with the Missouri Public Service Commission its 20-year plan that includes major expansions of solar and wind power and will reduce CO2 emissions 30 percent below 2005 levels by 2035, the utility says.

Ameren Missouri, a subsidiary of Ameren Corporation, would add nearly 500 MW of renewable power generation under the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP), which, together with other planned changes to its generation resources, would allow the utility to achieve the 30 percent reduction in CO2 emissions.

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 planned CO2 emissions reductions by 2035 position the company to address the CO2 reductions required in the EPA’s proposed Clean Power Plan. 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, the company says.