AMEREN CORP

Missouri and Illinois laws require electric utilities to include renewable energy resources in their portfolios. Ameren Missouri and Ameren Illinois satisfied their renewable energy portfolio requirements in 2023, pending regulatory review by the MoPSC for Ameren Missouri.

In Missouri, utilities are required to purchase or generate electricity equal to at least 15% of native load sales from renewable energy sources, with at least 2% of the requirement derived from solar energy. The requirement is subject to an average 1% annual limit on increases to customer rates over any 10-year period. For renewable generation facilities located in Missouri, 125% of the electricity generated counts towards meeting the requirement. Ameren Missouri expects to satisfy the non-solar requirement in 2024 with its High Prairie Renewable, Atchison Renewable, Keokuk, and Maryland Heights energy centers, a 102-MW power purchase agreement with a wind farm operator, which expires in August 2024, and previously purchased renewable energy credits. The High Prairie Renewable and Atchison Renewable energy centers are wind generation facilities. The Keokuk Energy Center generates electricity using a hydroelectric dam located on the Mississippi River. The Maryland Heights Energy Center generates electricity by burning methane gas collected from a landfill. Ameren Missouri is meeting the solar energy requirement by purchasing solar-generated renewable energy credits from customer-installed systems and by generating energy at its solar facilities.

In accordance with Illinois law, Ameren Illinois is required to collect funds from all electric distribution customers to fund IPA procurement events for renewable energy credits. The amount set by law and required to be collected from customers by Ameren Illinois is capped at $4.58 per MWh. The IPA establishes its long-term renewable resources procurement plans in a filing made every two years. In February 2024, the ICC approved the IPA’s latest long-term renewable resources procurement plan, which established the 2024 and 2025 renewable energy credit procurement targets. Based on IPA procurement events that align with the IPA’s plan, Ameren Illinois has contractual commitments to purchase approximately 1.0 million wind renewable energy credits per year and approximately 3.1 million solar renewable energy credits per year. Ameren Illinois has also entered into contracts, ending in 2032, to purchase approximately 0.6 million wind renewable energy credits per year. Pursuant to the CEJA, if funds collected from customers are not used to procure renewable energy credits, they would be refunded to customers pursuant to a reconciliation proceeding, the first of which was initiated in August 2023. Based on amounts collected from customers and renewable energy credit purchases under contract, the August 2023 reconciliation proceeding did not result in refunds to customers.

Illinois law also required Ameren Illinois to enter into contracts to purchase zero emission credits in an amount equal to approximately 16% of the actual amount of electricity delivered to retail customers during calendar year 2014, pursuant to Illinois’ zero emission standard. As a result of a 2018 IPA procurement event, which was approved by the ICC, Ameren Illinois entered into agreements to acquire zero emission credits through May 2027. Annual zero emission credit commitment amounts will be published by the IPA each May prior to the start of the subsequent planning year. Both renewable energy credits and zero emission credits have cost recovery mechanisms, which allow Ameren Illinois to collect from, or refund to, customers differences between actual costs incurred from the purchase of the credits and the amounts collected from customers.