Ameren Missouri Pure Power announced today that the St. Louis Rams will match 100 percent of the electricity used to power the Edward Jones Dome for home games this season with green power produced by Missouri and Midwestern wind farms.
“By enabling the St. Louis Rams to match every megawatt-hour of electricity used at our home games with a megawatt-hour of electricity generated at Missouri and Midwestern wind farms, we encourage regional wind farm development while mitigating the environmental impact of our energy use,” said Lisa Boaz, marketing manager, St. Louis Rams.
The St. Louis Rams will fulfill its green power commitment by purchasing a blend of Missouri and Midwest wind Green-e Energy-certified Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) from Ameren Missouri Pure Power and its partner, green power provider 3Degrees. This purchase ensures that regional wind farms will generate and deliver 525 megawatt-hours to the regional power pool, the same amount of electricity needed to power the Edward Jones Dome for seven of its eight regular season home games.
In order to recognize the St. Louis Rams green power commitment, Ameren Missouri Pure Power will match the Rams’ eighth home game, the October 30 green game versus the New Orleans Saints, with 100 percent Missouri wind power.
These wind power purchases will help avoid an estimated 362 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) greenhouse gas emissions from entering the atmosphere. Using calculations from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator, this amount of CO2e emissions equals the carbon dioxide emissions released from burning 842 barrels of oil, produced from the use of electricity at 31 average homes, or the carbon sequestered by 9,282 tree seedlings grown for 10 years.
“Since our involvement in the NFL’s first carbon neutral game in 2005, the St. Louis Rams have been committed to establishing and growing our Green Platform Mission with the intention of identifying authentic opportunities with local partners to reduce our carbon footprint,” said Kevin Demoff, chief operating officer and executive vice president of Football Operations for the St. Louis Rams. “Thanks to the Ameren Missouri Pure Power program, we have the opportunity to join other like-minded local companies who are taking steps in support of environmentally sustainable business practices.”
Pure Power is Ameren Missouri’s voluntary renewable energy program and the U.S. Department of Energy’s 2008 New Green Power Program of the Year award winner. Business, commercial and industrial customers participate by buying blocks of Pure Power at a cost of an additional $15 a month for every 1,000 kilowatt-hours used. Residential and small business customers can buy energy blocks or add an extra 1.5 cents/kilowatt-hour to their monthly bills, offsetting up to 100 percent of their energy usage with clean, renewable energy. Pure Power funds are then used to purchase RECs from Green-e Energy-certified wind farms and other types of renewable energy sources. Customers receive credit for those RECs. In both 2009 and 2010, 100 percent of the RECs Pure Power bought came from Missouri wind farms. This is projected to be true again in 2011.
For more information about Pure Power, please visit AmerenMissouri.com/PurePower or contact Cindy Bambini at 314.480.3554. Pure Power is Green-e Energy-certified by the not-for-profit Center for Resource Solutions. Green-e is the leading renewable energy certification and verification program in the U.S.
Ameren Missouri has been providing electric and gas service for more than a century, and our electric rates are among the lowest in the nation. We serve 1.2 million electric and 126,000 natural gas customers in central and eastern Missouri. Our mission is to meet their energy needs in a safe, reliable, efficient and environmentally responsible manner. Our service area covers 63 counties and 500 towns, including the greater St. Louis area. For more information, visit AmerenMissouri.com
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Contact: Media Hotline, 1.314.554.2182; Cindy Bambini, 1.314.480.3554