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Commitments And Contingencies
 3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2024
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
Commitments and Contingencies COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
We are involved in legal, tax, and regulatory proceedings before various courts, regulatory commissions, authorities, and governmental agencies with respect to matters that arise in the ordinary course of business, some of which involve substantial amounts of money. We believe that the final disposition of these proceedings, except as otherwise disclosed in the notes to our financial statements in this report and in the Form 10-K, will not have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial position, or liquidity.
Reference is made to Note 1 – Summary of Significant Accounting Policies, Note 2 – Rate and Regulatory Matters, Note 9 – Callaway Energy Center, Note 13 – Related-party Transactions, and Note 14 – Commitments and Contingencies under Part II, Item 8, of the Form 10-K. See also Note 1 – Summary of Significant Accounting Policies, Note 2 – Rate and Regulatory Matters, Note 8 – Related-party Transactions, and Note 10 – Callaway Energy Center of this report.
Environmental Matters
Our electric generation, transmission, and distribution and natural gas distribution and storage operations must comply with a variety of statutes and regulations relating to the protection of the environment and human health and safety, including permitting programs implemented by federal, state, and local authorities. Such environmental laws address air emissions; discharges to water bodies; the storage, handling and disposal of hazardous substances and waste materials; siting and land use requirements; and potential ecological impacts. Complex and lengthy processes are required to obtain and renew approvals, permits, and licenses for new, existing, or modified energy-related facilities. Additionally, the use and handling of various chemicals or hazardous materials require release prevention plans and emergency response procedures. We employ dedicated personnel knowledgeable in environmental matters to oversee our business activities’ compliance with requirements of environmental laws.
Environmental regulations have a significant impact on the electric utility industry and compliance with these regulations could be costly for Ameren Missouri, which operates coal-fired power plants. Regulations under the Clean Air Act that apply to the electric utility industry include the NSPS, the CSAPR, the MATS, and the National Ambient Air Quality Standards, which are subject to periodic review for certain pollutants. Collectively, these regulations cover a variety of pollutants, such as SO2, particulate matter, NOx, mercury, toxic metals and acid gases, and CO2 emissions. Regulations implementing the Clean Water Act govern both intake and discharges of water, as well as evaluation of the ecological and biological impact of those operations, and could require modifications to water intake structures or more stringent limitations on wastewater discharges. Depending upon the scope of modifications ultimately required by state regulators, capital expenditures associated with these modifications could be significant. The management and disposal of coal ash is regulated under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and the CCR Rule, which require the closure of surface impoundments at Ameren Missouri’s coal-fired energy centers. The individual or combined effects of compliance with existing and new environmental regulations could result in significant capital expenditures, increased operating costs, or the closure or alteration of operations at some of Ameren Missouri’s energy centers. Ameren and Ameren Missouri expect that such compliance costs would be recoverable through rates, subject to MoPSC prudence review, but the timing of costs and their recovery could be subject to regulatory lag.
Additionally, Ameren Missouri’s wind generation facilities may be subject to operating restrictions to limit the impact on protected species. Since 2021, Ameren Missouri’s High Prairie Renewable Energy Center curtailed nighttime operations from April through October to limit impacts on protected species during the critical biological season. Seasonal nighttime curtailment began again in April 2024, but the extent and duration of the curtailment is currently unknown as assessment of mitigation technologies is ongoing. Ameren Missouri does not anticipate these operating curtailments will have a material impact on its results of operations, financial position, or liquidity.
Ameren and Ameren Missouri estimate that they will need to make capital expenditures of $90 million to $120 million from 2024 through 2028 in order to comply with environmental regulations in place prior to the EPA’s final rules on CO2 emissions, MATS, effluent limitations guidelines, and CCR management issued in April 2024 and discussed below. Additional capital expenditures for environmental controls beyond 2028 could be required. This estimate of capital expenditures includes surface impoundment closure and corrective action measures required by the CCR Rule and modifications to cooling water intake structures at existing power plants under Clean Water Act rules, all of which are discussed below. In addition to planned retirements of coal-fired energy centers as set forth in the 2023 IRP filed with the MoPSC in September 2023 and as noted below with respect to the NSR and Clean Air Act litigation and Illinois emissions standards discussed in Note 14 – Commitments and Contingencies under Part II, Item 8, of the Form 10-K, Ameren Missouri’s current plan for compliance with existing air emission regulations includes burning low-sulfur coal and installing new or optimizing existing air pollution control equipment. The actual amount of capital expenditures required to comply with existing environmental regulations may vary substantially from the above estimates because of uncertainty as to future permitting requirements by state regulators and the EPA, revisions to regulatory obligations, and varying cost of potential compliance strategies, among other things.
The following sections describe the more significant environmental statutes and regulations and environmental enforcement and remediation matters that affect or could affect our operations. The EPA periodically amends and revises its regulations and proposes amendments to regulations and guidelines, which could ultimately result in the revision of all or part of such regulations.
Clean Air Act
Federal and state laws, including the CSAPR, regulate emissions of SO2 and NOx through the reduction of emissions at their source and the use and retirement of emission allowances. In April 2022, the EPA proposed plans for additional NOx emission reductions from power plants in Missouri, Illinois, and other states through revisions to the CSAPR. In January 2023, the EPA issued its final disapproval of Missouri’s proposed state implementation plan for addressing the transport of ozone under the Good Neighbor Plan of the Clean Air Act. The disapproval of the state plan allows the EPA to implement revisions to the CSAPR through a federal implementation plan. In March 2023, the EPA announced federal implementation plan requirements, which were subsequently published to the Federal Register in June 2023, reducing the amount of NOx allowances available for state budgets and imposing NOx emission limits on electric generating units for Missouri, Illinois, and other states under the Good Neighbor Plan of the Clean Air Act. In April 2023, the Missouri Attorney General and Ameren Missouri separately filed lawsuits in the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit challenging the EPA’s disapproval of the Missouri state plan and sought a stay of the EPA’s disapproval of the Missouri state plan. The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in May 2023 granted those stay motions thereby preventing the EPA from imposing the federal implementation plan until the court of appeals issues a ruling. In December 2023, the United States Supreme Court agreed to hear challenges to the Good Neighbor Plan and heard oral argument in February 2024, with a decision expected by June 2024. Ameren Missouri complies with the current CSAPR requirements by minimizing emissions through the use of low-sulfur coal, operation of two scrubbers at its Sioux Energy Center, and optimization of existing NOx air pollution control equipment. Reducing the amount of state budget NOx allowances for compliance with NOx emission limits could result in additional controls being required on Ameren Missouri’s generating units and/or the reduction of operations. Any additional costs for compliance are expected to be recovered from customers, subject to MoPSC prudence review, through the FAC or higher base rates.
CO2 Emissions Standards
In June 2022, the United States Supreme Court issued its decision in West Virginia v. EPA, clarifying that there are limits on how the EPA may regulate greenhouse gases absent further direction from the United States Congress. The court concluded that the EPA’s proposed rules were designed to shift generation from fossil-fuel-fired power plants to renewable energy facilities, which was improper absent specific congressional authorization. In April 2024, the EPA issued a final rule that sets CO2 emission standards for existing coal-fired and new natural gas-fired power plants. The rule requires the adoption of carbon capture technology and/or natural gas co-firing for coal-fired power plants and carbon capture technology for new natural gas-fired power plants as a means to reduce CO2 emissions. Certain affected power plants are required to comply with the rule through a phased-in approach or retire. Legal challenges to the final rule are expected. Ameren and Ameren Missouri are assessing the impacts of the final rule and, at this time, cannot predict the impacts on their results of operations, financial position, and liquidity.
MATS
In April 2024, the EPA revised the MATS by establishing a more stringent standard for emissions of particulate matter, requiring the use of continuous emissions monitoring systems. Ameren and Ameren Missouri are assessing the impacts of the revised rule and, at this time, cannot predict the impacts on their results of operations, financial position, and liquidity.
NSR and Clean Air Act Litigation
In January 2011, the United States Department of Justice, on behalf of the EPA, filed a complaint against Ameren Missouri in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri alleging that projects performed in 2007 and 2010 at the coal-fired Rush Island Energy Center violated provisions of the Clean Air Act and Missouri law. In January 2017, the district court issued a liability ruling against Ameren Missouri and, in September 2019, entered a remedy order that required Ameren Missouri to install a flue gas desulfurization system at the Rush Island Energy Center and a dry sorbent injection system at the Labadie Energy Center. Following an appeal from Ameren Missouri, in August 2021, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit affirmed the liability ruling and the district court’s remedy order as it related to the installation of a flue gas desulfurization system at the Rush Island Energy Center, but reversed the order as it related to the installation of a dry sorbent injection system at the Labadie Energy Center. In September 2023, the district court granted Ameren Missouri’s request to modify the remedy order to allow the retirement of the Rush Island Energy Center in advance of its previously expected retirement date of 2039 in lieu of installing a flue gas desulfurization system. In its amended remedy order, the district court established an October 15, 2024 retirement date to allow for the completion of various transmission reliability projects and, in the interim, authorized Ameren Missouri to operate the energy center only as needed and as directed by the MISO. The United States Department of Justice is seeking an order from the district court providing for additional mitigation relief related to prior emissions. Ameren Missouri contends that the retirement of the Rush Island Energy Center, which eliminates all future emissions from the energy center, mitigates claims relating to prior emissions. In March 2024, the district court ordered Ameren Missouri and the United States Department of Justice to file proposed draft orders outlining additional mitigation relief. In May 2024, Ameren Missouri filed a proposed draft order that includes retiring the Rush Island Energy Center, a program to provide electric buses and charging stations to schools in the metro St. Louis area, a program to provide air filters to eligible Ameren Missouri electric residential customers, and the retirement of SO2 allowances. Excluding the accelerated retirement of the Rush
Island Energy Center, these programs are estimated to cost approximately $20 million. Also in May 2024, the United States Department of Justice filed a proposed draft order that includes a program to provide electric buses and charging stations to schools in the metro St. Louis area and a program to provide air filters to eligible Ameren Missouri electric residential customers. These programs include a significantly greater number of buses, charging stations, and air filters than Ameren Missouri’s proposal and the United States Department of Justice estimates these programs would cost approximately $120 million. As of March 31, 2024, Ameren and Ameren Missouri recorded a $20 million liability in “Other current liabilities” on its consolidated balance sheet related to the cost of potential additional mitigation, which represents the estimated minimum liability, as no other amount within the range was a better estimate. The district court is expected to hold a hearing in mid-2024 and an order is expected in the second half of 2024. Depending on the scope and basis of the order, Ameren Missouri or the United States Department of Justice could appeal any additional mitigation relief ordered.
The MISO designated the Rush Island Energy Center as a system support resource in 2022 and concluded that certain reliability mitigation measures, including transmission upgrades, should occur before the energy center is retired. The Rush Island Energy Center began operating as a system support resource on September 1, 2022. In 2023, the MISO extended the system support resource designation through August 2024, and in September 2023, an agreement between Ameren Missouri and the MISO was approved by the FERC that results in the Rush Island Energy Center only operating during peak demand times and emergencies. The system support resource designation and the related agreement are subject to annual renewal and revision. Construction activities are underway for the transmission upgrades approved by the MISO, with the majority of the upgrades expected to be completed in the fall of 2024. Ameren Missouri expects to complete the last of the upgrades by mid-2025. In addition, the FERC approved a settlement agreement for Ameren Missouri’s request for recovery of non-energy costs under the related MISO tariff between Ameren Missouri and certain intervenors, which provided for recovery of substantially all of Ameren Missouri’s requested non-energy costs through August 2024. Revenues and costs under the MISO tariff are included in the FAC. Related to this matter, in February 2022, the MoPSC issued an order directing the MoPSC staff to review the planned accelerated retirement of the Rush Island Energy Center. See Note 2 – Rate and Regulatory Matters Part II, Item 8, of the Form 10-K for additional information.
In connection with the accelerated retirement of the Rush Island Energy Center, Ameren Missouri is seeking approval from the MoPSC to finance the costs associated with the retirement, including the remaining unrecovered net plant balance associated with the facility, through the issuance of securitized utility tariff bonds pursuant to Missouri’s securitization statute. Costs associated with the retirement would exclude any additional mitigation relief ordered in the NSR and Clean Air Act litigation discussed above. See Note 2 – Rate and Regulatory Matters for additional information. As of March 31, 2024, the Rush Island Energy Center had a net plant balance of $520 million included in plant to be abandoned, net, within “Property, Plant, and Equipment, Net”. See Note 1 – Summary of Significant Accounting Policies under Part II, Item 8, of the Form 10-K for additional information regarding plant to be abandoned, net.
Ameren Missouri is unable to predict the ultimate resolution of this matter; however, such resolution could have a material adverse effect on the results of operations, financial position, and liquidity of Ameren and Ameren Missouri.
Clean Water Act
Among other items, the Clean Water Act requires power plant operators to evaluate cooling water intake structures and identify measures for reducing the number of aquatic organisms impinged on a power plant’s cooling water intake screens or entrained through the plant’s cooling water system. All of Ameren Missouri’s coal-fired and nuclear energy centers are subject to this cooling water intake structures rule. Requirements of the rule are implemented by state regulators through the permit renewal process of each power plant’s water discharge permit. Permits for Ameren Missouri’s coal-fired and nuclear energy centers have been issued or are in the process of renewal.
In 2015, the EPA issued a rule to revise the effluent limitation guidelines applicable to steam electric generating units. These guidelines established national standards for water discharges, prohibit effluent discharges of certain waste streams, and impose more stringent limitations on certain water discharges from power plants by 2025. To comply with these guidelines, Ameren Missouri installed dry ash handling systems and wastewater treatment facilities at its coal-fired energy centers. In April 2024, the EPA issued new effluent limitation guidelines that established a zero discharge limit for flue gas desulfurization wastewater, bottom ash transport water, and combustion residual leachate. Ameren and Ameren Missouri are assessing the impacts of these new guidelines and, at this time, cannot predict the impacts on their results of operations, financial position, and liquidity.
CCR Management
The EPA’s CCR Rule establishes requirements for the management and disposal of CCR from coal-fired power plants and has resulted in the closure of surface impoundments at Ameren Missouri’s energy centers, with closures of surface impoundments in process at its Sioux Energy Center and retired Meramec Energy Center. Ameren Missouri plans to substantially complete the closures of remaining surface impoundments by the end of 2026. Ameren Missouri’s CCR management compliance plan includes installation of groundwater monitoring equipment and groundwater treatment facilities. Ameren and Ameren Missouri have AROs of $40 million recorded on their respective balance sheets as of March 31, 2024, associated with CCR storage facilities. In April 2024, the EPA revised the CCR Rule to impose groundwater monitoring, and corrective action, closure, and post-closure requirements on certain active and inactive CCR surface
impoundments. Ameren and Ameren Missouri are assessing the impacts of this rule revision and, at this time, cannot predict the impacts on their results of operations, financial position, and liquidity.
Remediation
The Ameren Companies are involved in a number of remediation actions to clean up sites impacted by the use or disposal of materials containing hazardous substances. Federal and state laws can require responsible parties to fund remediation regardless of their degree of fault, the legality of original disposal, or the ownership of a disposal site.
As of March 31, 2024, Ameren Illinois has remediated the majority of the 44 former MGP sites in Illinois with an estimated remaining obligation primarily related to three of these former MGP sites at $46 million to $96 million. Ameren and Ameren Illinois recorded a liability of $46 million to represent the estimated minimum obligation for these sites, as no other amount within the range was a better estimate. Ameren cannot estimate the completion date of the estimated remaining obligation due to site accessibility, among other things.
The scope of the remediation activities at these former MGP sites may increase as remediation efforts continue. Considerable uncertainty remains in these estimates because many site-specific factors can influence the actual costs, including unanticipated underground structures, the degree to which groundwater is impacted, regulatory changes, local ordinances, and site accessibility. The actual costs and timing of completion may vary substantially from these estimates.
The ICC allows Ameren Illinois to recover MGP remediation and related litigation costs from its electric and natural gas utility customers through environmental cost riders that are subject to annual prudence reviews by the ICC.
Our operations or those of our predecessor companies involve the use of, disposal of, and, in appropriate circumstances, the cleanup of substances regulated under environmental laws. We are unable to determine whether such historical practices will result in future environmental commitments, including additional or more stringent cleanup standards, or will affect our results of operations, financial position, or liquidity.