ST. LOUIS, Feb. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- AmerenUE, a utility operating company of Ameren Corporation (NYSE: AEE), today published a summary of a comprehensive plan filed today with the Missouri Public Service Commission. This Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) details how AmerenUE expects to supply safe, reliable electricity in coming years. Completed under the direction of the company's senior management, the report and full plan can be found at http://www.ameren.com/resourceplan.
The company's goal throughout the planning process remains to provide energy at reasonable rates, while protecting the environment. The summary report outlines the preferred plan:
-- to aggressively pursue the development of energy efficiency programs
to reduce energy consumption -- AmerenUE customers are using 50
percent more electricity now than they did in the early 1990s;
-- to expand the role of renewable energy sources in the company's
overall generation mix;
-- to increase operational efficiency at existing plants;
-- to select from a range of options for eventually building baseload
generating facilities (larger plants that run almost continuously)
from pursuing research on clean coal technologies to preserving the
option to add nuclear generation given the need to reduce greenhouse
gas emissions;
-- to possibly retire some generating units that are older and less
efficient.
"Most of all, this plan shows that at AmerenUE, we are very serious about helping customers reduce their energy consumption," said AmerenUE CEO and President Thomas R. Voss. ""We are investing $24 million in 2009 on energy efficiency programs and ratcheting up that annual investment until it reaches $56 million by 2015. That level of investment should place Missouri among the top 10 states in the nation in per-capita spending on energy efficiency."
Voss also cited a company commitment to developing renewable energy resources. AmerenUE is pursuing an agreement to add at least 100 megawatts of wind power to this generation portfolio by 2010. The company's target is to serve at least an additional three percent of its retail electric sales through new renewable resources by 2020, and AmerenUE has committed to fully analyzing the technical and economic potential for development of renewable resources in the region.
In addition to further advance renewable energy options, the company launched Pure Power in 2007. This voluntary program for Missouri resident and business customers supports the development of renewable generation through the purchase of certified renewable energy certificates (RECs). Customers participating in the program choose to pay an additional 1.5 cents per kilowatthour (kWh) for the electricity they use. Based on this additional charge, a typical household using 1,000 kWh of electricity per month would pay an additional $15.00 on the monthly bill. AmerenUE business customers participate by purchasing 1,000 kWh "blocks" of Pure Power for $15 per block. Business customers can purchase as many blocks as they want.
The summary report details the exhaustive, rigorous and disciplined planning process the company followed to fully comply with Missouri regulations. For the first time, this process involved multiple stakeholder meetings with consumer advocates, representatives from organizations serving low-income customers, large business interests, environmental activists and state officials from various agencies, including the Department of Natural Resources, the Office of Public Counsel and the Missouri Public Service Commission.
This IRP filing and summary report publication follow the Dec. 14, 2007, publication of a comprehensive environmental report (found at http://www.ameren.com/envreport) which also points to the corporation's decision to defer construction of coal-fired generating plants, promote energy efficiency and develop renewable energy as key pieces of its environmental and generation strategies.
Comments on materials filed and published today should be sent to AmerenUE, P. O. Box 66149, MC 100, St. Louis, MO, 63166-6149 or via email to ResourcePlanning@ameren.com
AmerenUE is the largest electric utility company and the third largest provider of natural gas in Missouri, with 1.2 million customers across 20,000 square miles. Ameren Corporation, through its utility subsidiaries, provides energy services to 3.4 million total customers in Illinois and Missouri.
SOURCE: AmerenUE
CONTACT: Susan Gallagher of AmerenUE, +1-314-554-2175
Web site: http://www.ameren.com/