Current Date/Time: 12/3/2024 11:27:11 AM
Linked Consumer Comments
EA-2024-0237
Docket Sheet Help
Consumer Comment No. Date Filed Consumer Comments
P202500618 9/3/2024 11:00 AM I am a resident of Missouri in the Ameren service area and I am concerned about the Castle Bluff Energy Center. This new methane power plant will exacerbate a number of environmental problems facing the St. Louis metro area. There are 13 recorded methane leaks since 2020 recorded by the non-profit Methane Watch using satellite imagery. The American Lung Association has shown as of this year that St. Louis’ air quality has significantly worsened in terms of ozone pollution, and burning natural gas will worsen this crisis by emitting nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide, key components to forming ground level ozone. this facility is in opposition to Ameren’s commitment to making our grid greener. Please hold them accountable.
P202500665 9/11/2024 11:48 AM I have serious concerns about the Castle Bluff Energy Center and its inevitable negative public health & environmental impacts on the St. Louis metro population. If this project is approved, the St. Lous metro area will face significantly increased levels of pollution, which will directly affect the short-term and long-term levels of air quality for its residents. In addition, there is satellite imagery confirming more than 10 recorded methane leaks since the year of 2020, according to the non-profit Methane Watch. I am opposed to this facility and the environmental degradation and negative health outcomes that will follow.
P202500728 9/14/2024 12:20 PM I absolutely object to the Proposed Castle Bluff Energy Center. ALL investment in power facilities now should be in renewables such as Solar, Wind and geothermal. This transition should have begun 30 years ago!
P202500729 9/14/2024 1:21 PM Case No. EA-2024-0237 I oppose the Castle Bluff Energy Center. I want us to stop choosing energy sources that pollute, causing health and economic problems for us today and future generations. The Castle Bluff Energy Center is a risky investment as methane gas prices are extremely volatile and the required carbon capture sequestration system is unproven technology. We have better options. Renewable energy, especially solar and wind, is cheaper and more reliable than ever before. Methane gas is a limited resource. Solar and wind are not. Let's use our talent and technology to transition from extractive to renewable energy. Let's prioritize clean land, air, and water for everyone, everywhere.
P202500738 9/16/2024 10:20 AM I am opposed to the Castle Bluff Energy Center, which is bad for the environment and a risky investment. Methane emissions trap over 82.5 times more heat than carbon dioxide emissions. Increased methane emissions are a public health risk and methane gas prices are extremely volatile. The plant is required to have an expensive carbon capture sequestration system, which is a type of technology that has never been proven effective at significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions. We have better options! Renewable energy is now cheaper than fossil fuels and more reliable than ever before. Methane gas is a limited resource. Solar and wind are not limited.
P202500739 9/16/2024 1:23 PM The Castle Bluff Energy Center is bad for the environment, a risky financial move, and far from the only option. It will burn "natural" gas, mostly methane, which traps over 82.5 times more heat than carbon dioxide and is a public health risk. It is a risky investment. Methane gas prices are extremely volatile and requires an expensive carbon capture sequestration system, a technology not proven to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. There are better options for the environment and the economy. Methane gas prices are extremely volatile. Renewable energy, especially solar and wind, is cheaper and more reliable than ever before. Methane gas is a limited resource. Solar and wind are not.
P202500741 9/16/2024 3:15 PM Please do NOT approve the Castle Bluff Energy Center. It's so VERY bad for the environment, is risky financially, and is absolutely NOT the only option. It is bad for the environment because it would burn "natural" gas, a fossil fuel containing mostly methane, which is way worse than carbon dioxide emissions for trapping heat. It's a risky investment because the plant is required to have an expensive carbon capture sequestration system, which is a type of technology that's never been proven effective at significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Consumers should NOT have to pay for such a risky investment. Better options for environment and economy are renewable options especially solar and wind.
P202500752 9/17/2024 3:37 PM Re: EA-2024-0237, I am opposed to Ameren building a new gas-fired power plant. I was already dismayed with Ameren, who currently burns coal and hasn’t installed the appropriate scrubbers. Now they want to start burning methane in this new mega plant. It is bad for the environment, and the cost to power it will fluctuate significantly with methane prices. And we consumers will pay even more for our power. We have the option of renewable sources of clean energy. The state of Missouri and our power providers must embrace clean alternatives for our health and for the future.
P202500755 9/18/2024 10:31 AM To keep our goal of eliminating carbon-based pollutants into the air I prefer Ameren Missouri obtain generation that is not carbon based.
P202500758 9/18/2024 5:08 PM I think it's prime time that we invest in renewable energy, battery storage, and energy efficiency locally over fossil fuels, for the health of our community. Climate change caused by the burning of fossil fuels is already impacting our community and will continue to do so. With the tax incentives available now and the falling cost of renewable energy, I hope our utility will invest more in renewable energy in the future!
P202500760 9/19/2024 9:32 AM From the LWV Metro St Louis comments regarding EA-2024-0237
P202500761 9/19/2024 9:36 AM Public comments from Grace United Methodist Church STL
P202500762 9/19/2024 10:22 AM I am very very opposed to the change from coal fired to a natural gas plant. Natural gas releases toxins like methane. I urge Ameren to look into other options like renewable energy.
P202500767 9/20/2024 11:25 AM Please see attached.
P202500769 9/20/2024 4:20 PM Missouri PSC and Ameren have been abundantly informed that its fossil methane buildout is not mathematically reconcilable with a carbon budget compatible with the sustenance of human civilization, and the brazen defiance of those warnings embodied in the request for ‘Castle Bluff Energy Center’ exhibits a shocking moral vacancy. Our children deserve the requisite patience, diligence, and temperance from our generation to preserve the climate upon which their lives will depend, neither of which are compatible with this ‘Castle Bluff Energy Center.’
P202500770 9/20/2024 4:24 PM PSC and Ameren must choose electricity sources that are proportionally concordant with the most recent conclusion of climatologists, that carbon emissions must dramatically decline by 2030, not slightly and not by 2050 or another distant date. In meeting this obligation, PSC must not allow Ameren to indulge the paper fiction of ‘Carbon capture and storage,’ which will forever remain just as distant on the horizon as it is today. The peculiar pretense of countermanding the laws of thermodynamics that we learn in high school is not much better than outright climate denial itself, as a feckless denial of basic science unworthy of scientifically literate adults, as I presume the commissioners to be.
P202500771 9/20/2024 4:25 PM The timetable of our climate crisis will not accommodate methane-fired power for another generation we cannot spare. Our current understanding of methane leakage in the natural gas industry also indicates that gas-fired generation carries a greater climate impact, nearer to that of coal-fired power, than previously supposed. PSC has a solemn responsibility to curtail Ameren’s emissions of carbon dioxide, in favor of renewable energy and reducing consumption, as rapidly as technologically possible. Every pound of carbon burned in a PSC-permitted generator such as this asinine ‘Castle Bluff Energy Center’ is a blow struck against the prospects for human flourishing and survival in the century to come.
P202500775 9/22/2024 11:45 AM Metropolitan Congregations United (MCU) puts faith into action. Environmental Justice (EJ) Task Force supports equitable access to public hearings. MCU EJ leaders actively hold air quality monitors in their congregations and they work with communities negatively impacted by poor air quality. It is important to not add to the pollution already in our air in St. Louis Region and the state of Missouri. If more hearings were held at a variety of times and locations, it would have provided opportunities for input from those in low-income and/or minority communities and those with technology as barriers. There was a need for more communication on possible health impacts and a variety of approaches used to educate the impacted population.
P202500786 9/24/2024 10:19 AM Ameren's proposed Castle Bluff Energy Center is a reckless use of ratepayer dollars when renewable alternatives are more cost effective, more reliable, and more forward thinking. I urge the Public Service Commission to vote "no" on this proposal. Ameren says the center will be a "reliable" source of energy. It is not. "Natural" or methane gas must be piped in rather than being produced on-site. Between June 2020 and August 2022, costs of methane gas spiked nearly 20%. Ameren claims the proposal will create "permanent jobs." Methane gas is a finite resource, so these jobs will not be permanent. Solar and wind, including utility scale battery storage, however, are renewable, reliable resources that would actually create permanent jobs.
P202500820 10/1/2024 9:34 AM I am questioning the safety of putting a substation within 300 feet of my house. I have read that it is not good for one's health. I don't want this to be done and I don't like how secret everything has been up until I received the letter.
P202500829 10/8/2024 2:51 PM Please do not approve the proposed Ameren gas plant. The future is in clean, renewable energy. Fossil fuels are harmful to the environment (i.e., methane), are of finite quantity, and represent backward technology. Given recent devastation caused by powerful hurricanes, it is both dangerous and short-sighted to continue to build fossil fuel plants. Our children and grandchildren deserve better. Thank you for considering my views on this important topic.
P202500835 10/15/2024 6:36 PM I am a college student in St. Louis who is concerned about the reopening of the Ameren coal power plant into a natural gas power plant. St. Louis already has issues with asthma and the power plant will further exacerbate this problem. Natural gas has negative effects on the environment and Ameren has a history of polluting communities and causing long-term environmental damage. The location of the plant is also a concern with it being located near an elementary school and river. Ameren should not be allowed to open up this natural gas power plant and further harm the St. Louis community.
P202500836 10/15/2024 6:38 PM I am a university student in St. Louis and am strongly opposed to the establishment of this power plant. St. Louis already faces numerous environmental justice and health issues, and this plant would only exacerbate them. Natural gas is not that much better than the preexisting coal power plant it seeks to replace, as it is 80x more potent than CO2 when it comes to atmospheric heating and is notoriously difficult to transport. This pollution will grossly impact the nearby schools, neighborhood, and water sources. Rather than investing in this horrible plant, I urge the city to instead invest in renewable energy sources that are far better for the environment and people of St. Louis.
P202500837 10/15/2024 6:39 PM I am a college student in St. Louis, and my concern is the environmental harm that this plant causes. This new methane power plant will exacerbate a number of environmental problems facing the St. Louis metro area. Natural gas is 80x more potent than CO2 when it comes to atmospheric heating and is notoriously difficult to transport. There are 13 recorded methane leaks since 2020 recorded by the non-profit Methane Watch using satellite imagery. The American Lung Association has shown as of this year that St. Louis' air quality has significantly worsened in terms of ozone pollution. I am worried for the community and do not wish for this to be approved. Thank you.
P202500838 10/15/2024 6:43 PM I'm a student in St. Louis and I am greatly concerned about the construction of the Ameren power plant. I'm outraged that Ameren is using public funds to build a private plant right next to a park, neighborhood, river, and elementary school. They are using climate change, a crisis that they are causing, as an excuse to perpetuate the cycle of using fossil fuels to combat it. This project is a guaranteed source of noise pollution, proven to disrupt children's learning, and as a student I cannot passively accept that fact. There is nothing "natural" about pumping natural gas -- which is mostly methane, which is 80x more powerful than CO2, into the atmosphere. Thank you for your consideration. Do not let this go through.
P202500839 10/15/2024 6:44 PM As a college student in St. Louis, I am highly concerned about the possible effects of Ameren’s Castle Bluff Energy Center. The new plant would be built in the same spot as the previously shut down Ameren coal power plant which repeatedly violated federal clean air regulations for years. This new plant threatens the exact same harmful results in the surrounding environment including a park, river, elementary school, and neighborhood. It directly goes against Ameren's commitment to a greener grid, risking natural gas leaks into St. Louis's already polluted air. Due to natural gas's notoriously difficult transportation, this new plant will likely lead to the deadly pollution of a community and ecosystem.
P202500840 10/15/2024 6:44 PM I am a college student in St. Louis, and as a St. Louis resident, I oppose Ameren's proposition for the Castle Bluff Energy Center. After taking a step toward sustainability and a cleaner future by shutting down the Meramec power center, creating yet another energy center at the same site sullies that progress. Although the plant might not be a coal plant, natural gas still massively contributes to global warming. Hopefully, we can hold our energy providers to the standard of acting in the public's best interest, and that does not include the Castle Bluff Energy Center.
P202500846 10/16/2024 12:06 PM Case # EA-2024-0237. I OPPOSE Ameren Castle Bluff Energy Centre because it is bad for the environment, bad for public health, and a risky investment. Other better options exist, such as unlimited solar and wind, which are cheaper and more reliable than ever before. Even though the plant is required to have an expensive carbon capture system, the technology has never been proven to effectively reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The methane emissions generated will trap over 82.5 times more heat than CO2 emissions.
P202500914 11/5/2024 6:29 PM I am a college student in St. Louis. I am concerned about the plant and its motives. I think it will have negative environmental effects and on the community around it. Ameren has a bad history of putting profit over all else, including the safety of their structures, the public health of people, and polluting around it. Ameren claims this plant is to help people survive the harsher winters caused by climate change but, in reality, their testimony explained that they will use the plant to provide power for private corporations’ data centers. Say No!
P202500915 11/5/2024 6:29 PM I am a college student in St. Louis, and I’m very concerned about Ameren’s plan to reopen the Meramec power plant as a natural gas facility. Ameren says this plant would prevent winter outages, but executives admit it’s mainly for powering private data centers—not community needs. The environmental impacts are also troubling; natural gas emits methane, a greenhouse gas 80 times more potent than CO2, and St. Louis already suffers from high ozone levels. Additionally, the plant’s location—near a neighborhood, park, river, and school—poses direct risks to local health and safety. Ameren should prioritize sustainable and community-focused solutions.
P202500927 11/8/2024 9:17 AM I am writing to express disbelief that the Lighting measures have been removed from the 2025 Energy Efficiency Program Year. In addition to the collective usage from our customer base, with planned capital expenditures depending on incentive impact, we are headed into an era of unprecedented lighting controls exploding onto the market. The cost of these are high but the energy savings often can bring about 50+% more efficiency! One state over, in Illinois, it's law to have such a program and our state looks badly by not even pretending to value this effort. It's embarrassing at best, and encouraging our business to look elsewhere for their offices, branches and headquarters. Please reconsider.
P202500942 11/12/2024 8:57 AM We have been a trade ally with Ameren Bizsavers for 10+ years and are disappointed that this program is going away. The program has been a benefit to thousands of businesses in the state of Missouri pursuing greater efficiency - which benefits the environment, our economy and our future. This decision is short-sited, and will slow the progress toward lower green house emissions, carbon footprint and sustainability. Missouri is already falling behind in these areas and this will only set us further back. There are also many jobs - which means individuals and families - that will be negatively impacted by this. I would ask that you reconsider this decision or at least provide a longer off-ramp so that businesses can prepare.