Ameren Missouri plans new project as part of low-cost, balanced energy mix to serve customers
Ameren Missouri (NYSE: AEE) has announced plans to develop the 250-megawatt Reform Renewable Energy Center, a new solar facility adjacent to their Callaway Energy Center. The project, pending PSC approval, will power 44,000 homes and create 300 construction jobs, with completion expected in 2028.
The facility is part of Ameren's strategy to achieve a 70% on-demand and 30% intermittent energy mix. The site can accommodate 250 MW of energy storage capacity for future battery installation. This development joins other ongoing projects including the Castle Bluff Energy Center, Big Hollow Energy Center, and four solar projects totaling over 400 MW expected to be operational by end of next year.
Ameren Missouri (NYSE: AEE) ha annunciato l’intenzione di realizzare il Reform Renewable Energy Center da 250 megawatt, un nuovo impianto solare adiacente al Callaway Energy Center. Il progetto, soggetto all’approvazione della PSC, fornirà energia a 44.000 abitazioni e genererà 300 posti di lavoro durante la costruzione, con completamento previsto nel 2028.
La struttura rientra nella strategia di Ameren di configurare un mix energetico composto dal 70% da fonti on-demand e dal 30% da fonti intermittenti. Il sito è predisposto per ospitare in futuro fino a 250 MW di accumulo tramite batterie. Questo progetto si aggiunge ad altre iniziative in corso, tra cui il Castle Bluff Energy Center, il Big Hollow Energy Center e quattro impianti solari per oltre 400 MW complessivi attesi in funzione entro la fine del prossimo anno.
Ameren Missouri (NYSE: AEE) ha anunciado planes para desarrollar el Reform Renewable Energy Center de 250 megavatios, una nueva planta solar junto a su Callaway Energy Center. El proyecto, pendiente de la aprobación de la PSC, suministrará energía a 44.000 hogares y generará 300 empleos en la fase de construcción, con finalización prevista en 2028.
La instalación forma parte de la estrategia de Ameren de alcanzar una combinación energética de 70% bajo demanda y 30% intermitente. El emplazamiento puede albergar en el futuro hasta 250 MW de almacenamiento para baterías. Este desarrollo se suma a otros proyectos en curso, incluidos Castle Bluff Energy Center, Big Hollow Energy Center y cuatro proyectos solares que suman más de 400 MW y se espera que estén operativos para finales del próximo año.
Ameren Missouri (NYSE: AEE)는 Callaway Energy Center 인근에 250메가와트 규모의 Reform Renewable Energy Center라는 새로운 태양광 시설을 개발할 계획이라고 발표했습니다. 해당 사업은 PSC의 승인 대기 중이며, 44,000가구에 전력을 공급하고 건설 기간 동안 300개의 일자리를 창출할 예정이며, 2028년 완공을 목표로 하고 있습니다.
이 시설은 Ameren의 수요 대응형 70%와 간헐적 30%의 에너지 믹스 전략에 포함됩니다. 부지는 향후 배터리 설치를 위한 250MW의 에너지 저장 용량을 수용할 수 있도록 설계되어 있습니다. 이 개발은 Castle Bluff Energy Center, Big Hollow Energy Center 및 총 400MW 이상의 용량을 갖춘 네 개의 태양광 프로젝트 등 다른 진행 중인 사업들과 함께 추진됩니다. 이들 프로젝트는 내년 말까지 가동될 것으로 예상됩니다.
Ameren Missouri (NYSE: AEE) a annoncé son projet de développer le Reform Renewable Energy Center de 250 mégawatts, une nouvelle installation solaire adjacente au Callaway Energy Center. Le projet, soumis à l’approbation de la PSC, fournira de l’électricité à 44 000 foyers et créera 300 emplois pendant la construction, avec une mise en service prévue en 2028.
Cette installation s’inscrit dans la stratégie d’Ameren visant un mix énergétique de 70 % d’énergie à la demande et 30 % d’énergie intermittente. Le site peut accueillir à l’avenir jusqu’à 250 MW de stockage pour batteries. Ce développement s’ajoute à d’autres projets en cours, notamment le Castle Bluff Energy Center, le Big Hollow Energy Center et quatre projets solaires totalisant plus de 400 MW attendus opérationnels d’ici la fin de l’année prochaine.
Ameren Missouri (NYSE: AEE) hat Pläne zur Entwicklung des 250-Megawatt Reform Renewable Energy Center bekannt gegeben, einer neuen Solaranlage neben dem Callaway Energy Center. Das Projekt steht noch unter dem Vorbehalt der PSC-Zulassung und wird 44.000 Haushalte mit Strom versorgen sowie 300 Arbeitsplätze während der Bauphase schaffen; Fertigstellung ist für 2028 geplant.
Die Anlage ist Teil von Amerens Strategie, einen Energiemix von 70% bedarfsgesteuerten und 30% intermittierenden Quellen zu erreichen. Das Gelände kann künftig 250 MW Energiespeicher für Batterien aufnehmen. Dieses Vorhaben ergänzt weitere laufende Projekte wie das Castle Bluff Energy Center, das Big Hollow Energy Center und vier Solarprojekte mit insgesamt über 400 MW, die voraussichtlich bis Ende des nächsten Jahres in Betrieb gehen.
- Project will power 44,000 homes and create 300 high-quality construction jobs
- Company already owns the land and transmission interconnection, reducing costs
- Eligible for tax incentives due to energy community location
- Site has capacity for 250 MW of future energy storage
- Part of larger expansion including 400 MW of solar projects under construction
- Project completion not expected until 2028
- Development still requires PSC approval
- Solar power is intermittent, requiring battery storage for optimal utilization
Insights
Ameren's strategic solar expansion enhances energy reliability while supporting growth with minimal financial risk.
Ameren Missouri's planned 250-megawatt Reform Renewable Energy Center represents a strategically sound expansion of their generation capacity. The project's adjacent location to their existing Callaway nuclear facility creates meaningful operational synergies by utilizing existing land and transmission interconnections, significantly reducing capital expenditures and construction timelines compared to greenfield developments.
The project intelligently leverages available tax incentives, particularly those for energy communities under recent legislation, creating favorable economics. This approach demonstrates thoughtful capital allocation by maximizing government support mechanisms while minimizing shareholder capital at risk. The facility's design with potential future battery storage capacity of 250 MW provides valuable optionality for grid balancing and peak demand management.
What's particularly notable is how this project fits within Ameren's broader balanced generation strategy of 70% on-demand and 30% intermittent sources. This ratio strikes an appropriate balance between reliability and renewable integration, addressing the fundamental challenge utilities face in the energy transition. The comprehensive approach with multiple projects (Castle Bluff, Big Hollow, and four additional solar sites) creates a diversified generation portfolio that enhances system resilience.
The economic benefits including 300 construction jobs and permanent maintenance positions provide additional regulatory goodwill. This project advances Ameren's clean energy transition while maintaining the reliability focus that regulators and customers demand, positioning the company well for continued regulatory support in future rate cases.
Development a component of ensuring reliability and facilitating economic growth
Building on a series of recent announcements focusing on investing in a reliable and balanced mix of energy resources, the company filed a proposal with the Missouri Public Service Commission (PSC) to construct the 250-megawatt (MW) Reform Renewable Energy Center.
The solar facility is planned adjacent to the company's existing nuclear powered Callaway Energy Center in central
Like Callaway Energy Center, the project is anticipated to be an economic engine in the community, adding an estimated 300 high-quality construction jobs at its peak, generating demand for support services and suppliers, and contributing to the area's economic vitality. There will also be permanent jobs for maintenance and ongoing operations once in service.
"For more than 40 years, Callaway Energy Center has been a dependable source of energy for
Ameren Missouri owns the land for the proposed facility and the transmission interconnection, reducing construction time and expenses. Reform also offers customers exceptional value thanks to available tax incentives, including its location inside an energy community.
"The Reform project will benefit our customers, the communities we serve and the entire state," said Ajay Arora, senior vice president and chief development officer at Ameren Missouri."
The site can also host up to 250 MW of energy storage. In the future, Ameren Missouri may apply to the PSC to install batteries at the Reform site. The batteries would store excess energy produced by the facility and discharge it when demand on the grid is higher, when customers need it most.
Alongside the Reform Renewable Energy Center, Ameren Missouri is developing several projects to ensure long-term reliability. The Castle Bluff Energy Center, scheduled to be online in 2027, will provide backup power during peak demand. The planned Big Hollow Energy Center, pending approval and slated for completion in 2028, will be Ameren Missouri's first hybrid facility combining natural gas and battery storage. Four solar projects, representing more than 400 MW, are under construction and expected to begin serving customers by the end of next year. They will join three solar sites brought online at the end of 2024, which are collectively generating enough power for 92,000 homes annually.
About Ameren Missouri
Ameren Missouri has been providing electric and gas service for more than 100 years. Ameren Missouri's mission is to power the quality of life for its approximately 1.3 million electric and 135,000 natural gas customers in central and eastern
Forward-looking Statements
Statements in this release not based on historical facts are considered "forward-looking" and, accordingly, involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed. Although such forward-looking statements have been made in good faith and are based on reasonable assumptions, there is no assurance that the expected results will be achieved. These statements include (without limitation) statements as to future expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, strategies, targets, estimates, objectives, events, conditions, and financial performance. In connection with the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, we are providing this cautionary statement to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. The following factors, in addition to those discussed under Risk Factors in Ameren Missouri's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024, and elsewhere in this release and in our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, could cause actual results to differ materially from management expectations suggested in such forward-looking statements:
- regulatory, judicial, or legislative actions, and any changes in regulatory policies and ratemaking determinations that may change regulatory recovery mechanisms;
- our ability to control costs and make substantial investments in our businesses, including our ability to recover costs and investments, and to earn our allowed returns on equity, within frameworks established by our regulators, while maintaining affordability of services for our customers;
- the effect on Ameren Missouri of any customer rate caps or limitations on increasing the electric service revenue requirement pursuant to Ameren Missouri's election to use the plant-in-service accounting regulatory mechanism;
- Ameren Missouri's ability to construct and/or acquire solar generation facilities and battery storage, as well as natural gas-fired and nuclear energy centers, and implement new or existing customer energy-efficiency programs, including any such construction, acquisition, retirement, or implementation in connection with its Smart Energy Plan, preferred resource plan, or emissions reduction goals, and to recover its cost of investment, a related return, and, in the case of customer energy-efficiency programs, any lost electric revenues in a timely manner, each of which is affected by the ability to obtain all necessary regulatory and project approvals, including certificates of convenience and necessity from the Missouri Public Service Commission or any other required approvals;
- Ameren Missouri's ability to earn and utilize or transfer federal production and investment tax credits related to renewable energy projects; the cost of solar generation and battery storage technologies; and our ability to obtain timely interconnection agreements with the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, Inc. or other regional transmission organizations at an acceptable cost for each facility;
- the inability of our counterparties to meet their obligations with respect to contracts, credit agreements, and financial instruments, including as they relate to the construction and acquisition of electric and natural gas utility infrastructure and the ability of counterparties to complete projects, which is dependent upon the availability of necessary materials and equipment, including those obligations that are affected by supply chain disruptions;
- advancements in energy technologies, including carbon capture, utilization, and sequestration, hydrogen fuel for electric production and energy storage, next generation nuclear, and large-scale long-cycle battery energy storage, and the impact of federal and state energy and economic policies with respect to those technologies;
- the effects of changes in federal, state, or local laws and other domestic or international governmental actions, including monetary, fiscal, foreign trade, and energy policies, foreign trade tariffs, executive orders, or extended federal government shutdowns or defunding;
- the effects of changes in federal, state, or local tax laws or rates; additional regulations, interpretations, amendments, or technical corrections to, or in connection with the One Big Beautiful Bill Act ("OBBBA") and the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 ("IRA"), including the effects of the OBBBA as it relates to construction timelines of solar and wind projects along with the ability to obtain materials for these projects to be eligible for federal production and investment tax credits, and the effects of the IRA as it relates to the
15% minimum tax on adjusted financial statement income; and any challenges to the tax positions taken by us, as well as resulting effects on customer rates and the recoverability of the minimum tax imposed under the IRA; - the effects on energy prices and demand for our services resulting from customer growth patterns or usage, including demand from data centers, technological advances, including advances in customer energy efficiency, electric vehicles, electrification of various industries, energy storage, and private generation sources, which generate electricity at the site of consumption and are becoming increasingly cost-competitive;
- disruptions in the delivery of fuel, failure of our fuel suppliers to provide adequate quantities or quality of fuel, or lack of adequate inventories of fuel;
- the effectiveness of our risk management strategies and our use of financial and derivative instruments;
- the impact of cyberattacks and data security risks on us, our suppliers, or other entities on the grid, which could, among other things, result in the loss of operational control of energy centers and electric and natural gas transmission and distribution systems and/or the loss of data, such as customer, employee, financial, and operating system information;
- acts of sabotage, which have increased in frequency and severity within the utility industry, war, terrorism, or other intentionally disruptive acts;
- business, economic, geopolitical, and capital market conditions, including foreign trade tariffs or trade wars, evolving federal regulatory priorities, and the impact of such conditions on interest rates, inflation, and investments;
- the impact of inflation or a recession on our customers and suppliers and the related impact on our results of operations, financial position, and liquidity;
- disruptions of the capital and credit markets, deterioration in our credit metrics, or other events that may have an adverse effect on the cost or availability of capital, including short-term credit and liquidity, and our ability to access the capital and credit markets on reasonable terms when needed;
- the actions of credit rating agencies and the effects of such actions;
- the impact of weather conditions and other natural conditions on us, including the impact of system outages and the level of solar resources;
- the construction, installation, performance, and cost recovery of generation, transmission, and distribution assets;
- the ability to maintain system reliability during and after the transition to clean energy generation by Ameren Missouri and the electric utility industry, as well as Ameren Missouri's ability to meet existing or future generation capacity obligations;
- the effects of failures of electric generation or natural gas storage facilities systems and equipment, which could result in unanticipated liabilities or unplanned outages;
- the impact of current environmental laws or their interpretation and new, more stringent, or changing requirements and environmental policies, including those related to New Source Review provisions of the Clean Air Act, carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, and other emissions and discharges, cooling water intake structures, coal combustion residuals, energy efficiency, and wildlife protection, that could limit, terminate or otherwise modify the operation of certain of Ameren Missouri's energy centers, increase our operating costs or investment requirements, result in an impairment of our assets, cause us to sell our assets, reduce our customers' demand for electricity or natural gas, or otherwise have a negative financial effect;
- the impact of complying with renewable energy standards in
Missouri ; - labor disputes, workforce reductions, our ability to attract and retain professional and skilled-craft employees, changes in future wage and employee benefits costs, including those resulting from changes in discount rates, mortality tables, returns on benefit plan assets, and other assumptions;
- the impact of negative opinions of us or our utility services that our customers, investors, legislators, regulators, creditors, rating agencies, or other stakeholders may have or develop, which could result from a variety of factors, including failures in system reliability, failure to implement our investment plans or to protect sensitive customer information, increases in rates, negative media coverage, or concerns about company policies or practices;
- the impact of adopting new accounting and reporting guidance;
- the effects of strategic initiatives, including mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures;
- legal and administrative proceedings;
- pandemics or other significant global health events, and their impacts on our results of operations, financial position, and liquidity; and
- the impacts of the Russian invasion of
Ukraine and conflicts in theMiddle East , related sanctions imposed bythe United States and other governments, and any broadening of these or other global conflicts, including potential impacts on the cost and availability of fuel, natural gas, enriched uranium, and other commodities, materials, and services.
New factors emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for management to predict all of such factors, nor can it assess the impact of each such factor on the business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained or implied in any forward-looking statement. Given these uncertainties, undue reliance should not be placed on these forward-looking statements. Except to the extent required by the federal securities laws, we undertake no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements to reflect new information or future events.
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SOURCE Ameren Missouri
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