AmerenIP's "Bright Ideas" program will provide 50 grants of $2,000 each - a total of $100,000 - to fund community projects throughout the utility's service area. Grant applications will be accepted through the end of June. Groups can apply online at www.ameren.com/community.
Now in its eighth year, the Bright Ideas program was initiated by Illinois Power as a meaningful way to support communities served by the utility, now known as AmerenIP. The company has awarded $1 million in grants for community improvement projects since the program's inception in 1998.
The program supports innovative projects that make local communities better places to live, work and play. Non-profit groups can submit Bright Ideas for initiatives in areas such as education, redevelopment, beautification, economic development and others. Winning entries are awarded $2,000 to pay for their projects, or a grant can be used as seed money for a Bright Idea that costs more than $2,000.
Applications are open to non-profit groups, schools, school organizations, and city or county governments in communities where AmerenIP provides electricity and/or natural gas service. A panel of local community leaders will review the applications and select those to be funded. Grant recipients will be notified in August.
The Bright Ideas program is one of the ways AmerenIP demonstrates its involvement and commitment to local communities. More information, including a list of last year's grant recipients, is available on the company's web site, www.ameren.com/community.
AmerenIP is a subsidiary of St. Louis-based Ameren Corporation. The Ameren companies serve 2.3 million electric customers and 900,000 natural gas customers in a 64,000-square-mile area of Missouri and Illinois.
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