Another Missouri Coal Power Plant Bites The Dust, As Power Companies Chase The Wind

Dim the lights: another reliable power plant is being laid to rest this month in Missouri.

On October 15, Ameren plans to shut down the Rush Island Energy Center, a coal-fired plant that has powered the Midwest with its 1,178 MW electricity capacity since it was opened in 1976. From Ameren's fact sheet about the coal plant: "Rush Island is one of the most efficient energy centers in the Midwest and the country. Over the past five years, it has ranked in the top 10% among peers when ranked by cost per megawatt-hour of generated energy and has won numerous awards as a top energy producer."

And: "In 2020, Rush Island produced enough energy to power more than 638,000 homes for the year."

Sounds like a keeper, right? Wrong!

When the plant was opened 48 years ago, likely no one anticipated it would be closed long before it was ever paid off. But here we are: Ameren, in closing the plant, has also received clearance from the Public Service Commission to refinance its nearly half-a-billion dollars in bonds on the plant.

With that refinancing, Ameren also gets enough money to pay for the costly decommissioning of the plant. Economic suicide ain't free, ya know.

According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Ameren's customers get the (mandatory) opportunity to pay off those bonds via an extra charge on their electric bill. So the power plant (which was working just fine) is coming down, and you, the customer, will pay for this.

You thought you'd noticed your rate had gone up?

In its latest request to raise rates — filed in July 2024 — the utility company with 1.2 million Missouri customers acknowledged the rate hike was in part to pay for a transition to so-called "clean energy."

In other words: customers will pay for Ameren to decommission reliable fuel-powered plants like coal and natural gas, while also paying more so Ameren can buy/build more unreliable solar and wind farms.

This article from The Missouri Independent explains it unambiguously:

The relatively new securitization law allows utilities to essentially refinance coal plants. A third party issues bonds to pay back the utility’s investment in building the plant. Then customers repay the bonds through their bills.
The policy — which was backed by an unusual alliance of environmental and consumer advocate groups and utility companies — is meant to incentivize companies to close coal plants early and invest the savings in renewable energy projects.

Yes. Shut down coal, and put up solar panels. That's the whole point.

Never forget: solar production is scant in the winter, when millions of Midwesterners need electricity to keep warm. By contrast, Rush Island Energy Center could be counted on to keep the furnaces churning. Again, from Ameren's fact sheet: "Rush Island is available when needed to provide customers energy in times of critical need, including during summer heat waves and winter freezing events."

With Rush Island gone, when winter storms hit, what's the plan?

Meramec Energy Center, the coal plant long-used for peak demand? Oh, wait... Ameren dismantled Meramec in 2022 — a week after leaning on it during a catastrophic cold spell.

So what's the plan?

Gas?

More like gaslighting.

When the inevitable power shortages arrive, you'll be told the grid is stronger than ever. You'll be told you're just imagining things.

When your rising electric bill chomps on your already-inflation-stretched family budget, you'll be told about financial assistance for poor folks to afford their rates. Since you've not gotten any of that help, you'll be shamed into just quietly paying your bill. "I guess the cost of stuff just goes up," you'll mumble to yourself.

The cost of stuff does go up. But it shouldn't. The idea behind innovation and technological advancement is that it adds ever-increasing value. So why, when it comes to energy production, are we paying more money for less-reliable electricity?

You already know the answer. Policy.

When companies act in nonsensical ways, the first place we should look is at federal (or state) policies that are pushing them to do so. And increasingly unhinged federal energy policies are making it nearly impossible for electricity-generation companies to do anything other than what they're doing.

Even on the state level, Missourians in 2008 voted 66% to approve Proposition C, which mandates that investor-owned electric companies get 15% of the power supplied to customers from "renewable" sources. Now there's a special charge on your electric bill; it's labeled "RESRAM" (Renewable Energy Standard Rate Adjustment Mechanism). Yes, you pay for that.

Or who did Missourians think was going to foot the bill for this pipe-dream?

Turns out, regulation, laws, and lawsuits by environmental groups (with predictably absurd outcomes) create gigawatt-sized financial disincentives for energy companies to do anything other than fall in line.

So dim the lights today, Missourians, in honor of another fallen coal plant. And you might want to just keep them dimmed. Maybe flicker them on and off every once in a while. Just to get yourself accustomed to our glorious, green future.