Ameren plans to build a natural gas-fired power plant in St. Louis County on the former site of its oldest and smallest coal plant, which closed a year ago, the company announced Thursday.
The St. Louis-based electric utility said the new facility would be used as a “peaker” plant to bolster power reliability when demand is greatest — like the hottest or coldest extremes of summer and winter — and that it could cost about $800 million.
The gas-powered plant would be called the Castle Bluff Energy Center, and sit at the confluence of the Meramec and Mississippi rivers, next to where the former Meramec Energy Center burned coal for decades.
The proposed move will require approval from the electric monopoly’s state regulators, and is sure to meet questions and skepticism – particularly about whether it is the wisest investment, given the financial impact it would have on the company’s ratepayers, compared to potential alternatives.
People are also reading…
Some skeptics have already raised those questions about what they see as a hefty and “risky” bet on natural gas.
“There are cheaper options,” said Ashok Gupta, a Kansas City-based energy economist for the Natural Resources Defense Council. “Some of us believe that the better option in the near term is: Invest in more efficiency, instead.”
He estimated, for instance, that Ameren could reduce the region’s peak power demand by 10% to 30%, if more money is poured into boosting energy efficiency – something that might help customers dodge large expenditures on new power plants.
“You have to look at the cost of efficiency versus the cost of a new gas plant,” said Gupta. “This is giving us the opportunity to make the case for efficiency…. There’s still a lot of questions that have to be answered before it is approved and built.”
This story will be updated.
Post-Dispatch photographers selected some of their photos from January 2024. Video edited by Jenna Jones.
Read More: Ameren says it will build a natural gas-fired plant in St. Louis County