2000+ Petitions and Letters Call for Public Participation, Clean Energy in Ameren Plan

St. Louis, MO. -- This morning, community organizations joined together to announce their delivery of over 2000 letters and petitions from Ameren customers calling for a bold plan for 100% clean renewable energy.

This delivery came on the eve of the comment deadline to the Missouri Public Service Commission (PSC) regarding Ameren’s Integrated Resource Plan (IRP), a plan submitted every three years outlining the utility's energy goals for generating and distributing energy for the next 20 years. Many community organizations on hand were critical of Ameren’s draft plan as it demonstrates the company’s continued dependence on harmful coal-fired energy for years to come.

“Ameren Missouri’s Integrated Resource Plan comes up short. This planning process presents Ameren with an opportunity advance the health and well being of people of color in this State. This Plan, however, with its over-reliance on coal-fired power, is an assault on their health and well being,” said Bruce Morrison, Chair of the Environmental Justice Committee of the Missouri State Conference of the NAACP.

While Ameren’s IRP does increase the company’s investment in 700 MW of wind energy by 2020 and 100 MW of solar by 2025, the plan does little to phase out old polluting coal plants.  These coal plants have been the subject of numerous lawsuits and complaints over the years and are a significant ongoing source of air and water pollution in our region.  Most utilities across the state and the country have been more proactive in using wind and solar to the benefit of consumers and transitioning away from expensive and dirty coal.

"Ameren's recent announcement of significant wind and solar investments is a terrific start, but even factoring in these projects, the utility remains one of the most coal-dependent utilities in the country,” said Andrew Linhares of Renew Missouri. “Looking around the country, it is clear that the recipe for lower rates is to retire dirty, expensive fossil fuel plants where possible and to replace them with low-cost wind generation.”

Further scrutiny was offered that the utility was failing to respond to customer demand for clean energy and failing to incorporate the public into the planning process. While the IRP process requires public stakeholder input, organizations that do not have funds or access to legal counsel are not allowed to engage in the formal process other than submitting comments after the draft plan has been submitted. Community organizations have been requesting access from Ameren and the PSC so that customers and the public can engage in a meaningful dialogue with the utility regarding our region’s energy future.

“There is increasing customer demand for a transition from coal to clean energy,” said Sara Edgar of the Missouri Sierra Club. “St. Louis recently made history by becoming the largest city in the Midwest to commit to 100% clean energy in order to combat climate change, create good local jobs, and attract new businesses to our region. Not only does this plan fail to address customer demands, but it does nothing to reduce harmful emissions in our region.”