Ameren Missouri to build 6 MW solar facility in Montgomery County

Ameren Missouri announced the construction of a 6 MW web of solar panels in Montgomery County, about an hour west of St. Louis, its largest solar facility to date.

When finished, the solar facility will be the second site for Ameren Missouri’s Community solar program customers and its first clean energy project since its announcement of a net-zero carbon emissions goal in September. Ameren expects the project to be finished within a year.

“Substantial increases in renewable energy generation are at the core of our transformational change toward Ameren’s net-zero carbon emissions,” Marty Lyons, chairman and president of Ameren Missouri, said. “This new solar facility, the largest in Ameren Missouri history, is one of many projects we’re pursuing to deliver more clean energy while maintaining the reliability and affordability our customers have come to expect.”

Driving this are nearly 2,000 new customer subscriptions — residential and business customers — to the company’s Community Solar program.

“Throughout the region, we’ve had increased demand for renewable energy, which was evident with the tremendous response we’ve seen as nearly 2,000 customers signed up for this new opportunity,” Matt Forck, vice president of community, economic development and energy solutions at Ameren Missouri, said. “These customers see the many benefits of the program and know they’re contributing to cleaner energy and reduced carbon emissions for our region.”

As a result, Ameren is also pursuing thousands of infrastructure projects throughout the state to make the energy grid smarter, cleaner, and stronger overall. Its new net-zero carbon emissions goal calls for reductions of 50 percent over 2005 levels by 2030, 85 percent by 2040, and full net-zero by 2050.