"This is a great joint effort that represents part of a multi-million dollar commitment from Ameren and its employees to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina," says Hurley. "We salute Ameren and encourage other Illinois companies to support this critical effort."
Hurley added that the Illinois Commerce Commission is working with utilities across the state to clear the way for other projects like this one that allow the state of Illinois to support the national effort to help victims of this major disaster.
"We are pleased to partner with our regulators and other business interests to allow the energy to begin flowing in parts of New Orleans and in Gulfport. The depth of this catastrophe has touched every one at our company, and clearly, we are interested in helping in multiple ways," says Gary L. Rainwater, Ameren chairman, president and chief executive officer. "Our employees are donating money, volunteering their time and working out cooperative relationships with other companies, like this one, to help end the chaos that has surrounded the lives of our fellow citizens."
The company is providing the eight oil-fired diesel generators to a Caterpillar dealer for use by the US Postal Service. The generators will be used to provide temporary power to post offices in the hurricane ravaged areas of Louisiana and Mississippi. The generators are being sold at a price that is significantly below the book value of the units.
The generators, each with a capacity of 1.6 megawatts, are located at the AmerenCILCO Kickapoo Substation in Lincoln, Ill. State and federal regulators have cleared the way for this transaction, which will provide about 12.8 megawatts of generation to the U.S. Postal Service. These cargo container- sized generating units will begin moving from Lincoln today.
The corporation announced last week that more than 300 Ameren employee and contract workers have been deployed to help power restoration efforts for an indefinite time period. The Ameren crews are working on behalf of New Orleans- based Entergy, which serves electric customers in Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas and Texas.
On Sept. 1, the company announced it has created a matching gift program for employee contributions to help victims of Hurricane Katrina. The company will match one-for-one all contributions made by Ameren employees from Sept. 2, 2005, to Oct. 17, 2005, to the United Way, Salvation Army and Catholic Charities.
Ameren, through its operating companies, serves 2.3 million electric and more than 900,000 natural gas customers in a 64,000-square-mile area of Illinois and Missouri.
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