Ameren announces 2050 net-zero carbon emissions goal amid major solar and wind expansion
All operations run by Ameren Corp. in Missouri and Illinois will reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, the company announced this week, as 3,100 MW of wind and solar generation are pushed online by 2030, and 5,400 MW by 2040.
For renewables, it represents the largest-ever expansion at Ameren, and the company intends to pursue them without sacrificing safety, reliability and affordability along the way. Laid out in Ameren Missouri’s latest Integrated Resource Plan (IRP), the expansion represents a major investment and carbon emission reduction effort from the previous plan submitted three years ago. Such filings are made every three years, though their goals are decades long.
“We have developed a comprehensive plan that will significantly reduce carbon emissions in a responsible fashion and deliver strong customer benefits,” Warner Baxter, chairman, president and CEO of Ameren Corp., said. “We have also established a bold goal to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. Achieving our goal will be driven by further advancements in innovative, carbon-free technologies and constructive federal and state energy and economic policies. Working together with key stakeholders, we believe we can achieve this important goal for our customers, our communities and our country.”
For Ameren Missouri, this plan will be fueled by billions of dollars in investments, advancing retirements of coal-fired energy centers, offering additional clean energy choices and a continued focus on reliability and affordability. At the corporate level, the plan looks to slash carbon emissions 50 percent by 2030 and 85 percent by 2040, when compared to 2005 levels. The company has the Paris Agreement firmly in mind with its commitments, even if at the federal level, the U.S. has since withdrawn from that agreement.
Such efforts, Ameren notes, have been aided by advances in technology and falling costs for renewable energy and energy storage. For this reason, among others, Ameren Missouri’s IRP includes nearly $8 billion of investments into renewable energy by 2040. Such efforts should bring thousands of new construction jobs and bolster local economies. These plans are already underway as Ameren Missouri is looking to acquire two wind energy facilities just in the next few months, through an approximately $1.2 billion purchase.
“Communities in Missouri are already seeing the benefits of economic expansion driven by the availability, construction and ongoing operation of renewable resources,” Marty Lyons, chairman and president of Ameren Missouri, said. “Renewable energy, constructed right here in Missouri, is good for the local economy.”
While investing in new sources, the company will also maintain existing operations in nuclear, hydroelectric and solar generation. At the same time, more than 75 percent of Ameren’s current coal-fired energy generating capacity should retire within the next two decades, and all should be gone by 2042. Those slew of retirements will begin in 2022.
The plan has garnered support from a variety of consumer, environmental and conservation groups, including the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Nature Conservancy of Missouri, Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis, and more.
“It’s a meaningful step in the Midwest in addressing climate change that builds on the company’s success in achieving the 2025 Paris targets five years early,” Ashok Gupta of the Natural Resources Defense Council said. “Clean energy and energy efficiency investments of more than $5 billion in the next ten years will help our region’s economic recovery, with energy efficiency and demand response programs saving the equivalent of two large power plants.”
All of this is, however, subject to review and approval by the Missouri Public Service Commission. Major aspects of the plan will require separate PSC approval and, in some cases, federal and local approvals, along with interconnection agreements.
“Climate change is one of the most important issues of our time,” Gwen Mizell, vice president of sustainability and electrification at Ameren, said. “Our transformative plan to add large amounts of wind and solar energy generation will ensure all customers, regardless of where they happen to live or their household income, have access to clean, reliable and affordable energy. Our plan is a progressive move toward building a sustainable energy future.”
