Ameren Missouri is sharing some details about its plans for a massive new natural gas power plant outside of St. Louis, amid pushback from environmental groups.
The West Alton Energy Center in St. Charles County would be built at the site of the Sioux coal plant and could come online in 2031. Critics oppose expanding the state's reliance on natural gas and said Ameren should invest more heavily in renewable energy and battery storage.
Rob Dixon, vice president of regulatory and legislative affairs for Ameren, said meeting growing demand while keeping the grid reliable requires a mix of energy sources.
"We have some existing generation resources that are reaching the end of their useful life and we need to replace that over time. and all of that really means that we need to provide more dependable capacity during extreme weather and high demand periods," Dixon asserted.
Backers of renewables contend replacing retiring coal generation with another fossil-fuel source could lock customers into decades of natural gas use, along with its fuel costs and environmental impacts. Despite advances in battery storage for wind and solar energy, Ameren countered a diverse mix of resources is needed because renewables do not generate power around the clock.
How customers could pay for the project is also drawing scrutiny. Ameren wants to designate the development as a construction work in progress, which could allow some construction costs to be reflected in customer rates before the plant is finished.
Consumer groups worry it could shift more financial risk onto ratepayers. However, Dixon says the approach could reduce financing costs.
"Like in our own lives, if you don't pay off your credit card each month, you're going to pay more because of the interest costs, and that's the same principle here. This approach uses state law, which requires state oversight and state approval. It's not just up to us," Dixon argued.
Ameren has not publicly stated the projected cost of the West Alton Energy Center. The Missouri Public Service Commission would have to approve the project and determine what costs, if any, could be recovered from customers.
