by Don Corrigan
Ameren, the energy utility that serves much of eastern Missouri, says it plans to add another gas plant to its electric production portfolio. The announcement is drawing fire from consumer and environmental groups.
The generating facility is planned for the former Rush Island coal plant in Jefferson County. The gas plant would generate approximately 800 MW of fossil-fuel fired electricity.
Ameren has not made the project’s costs available to the public at this point. The company but has stated that it wants the plant for serving “large load customers,” which industry experts say translates into artificial intelligence (AI) data centers.
The Missouri Coalition for the Environment (MCE) insists that if the plant is approved by the Public Service Commission, it will lock Missouri into decades of more “dirty” fossil fuel use.
MCE argues that if Ameren wants to serve data centers, the utility must do so with clean, cheap renewable energy, “not asthma-inducing, planet-warming, expensive methane gas or natural gas.”
Environmentalists point out that renewable energy sources would include solar and wind, both of which are cheaper than ever before. Solar and wind are also more reliable when combined with innovations in battery storage techniques.
In contrast, gas prices can be extremely volatile and will fluctuate wildly depending on global politics. Also, methane emissions with gas are a public health risk, which exacerbates economic inequalities.
Further economic questions have been raised by consumer protection advocates. Among the questions: Who pays for building new plants and refitting old ones to meet power needs of AI data centers? Will ratepayers be stuck with decommissioning costs for plants when they’re not needed?
Who Pays For AI Needs?
In the 2025 state legislative session, lawmakers approved CWIP (Construction Work In Progress). This overturned a “will of the people” measure dating from 1976. That measure stopped ratepayers from having to pick up the tab for projects until they’re online and producing energy.
Missouri voters’ action on CWIP had been honored for nearly five decades. What turn of events in the year 2025 moved the legislature to overturn the people’s will as expressed in the 1976 statewide vote?
Some blame it on AI, which is the simulation of human intelligence processes by sprawling computer systems. AI can be used by many technology-driven industries, such as health care, finance, and transportation.
Artificial Intelligence operations require special housing, large amounts of cooling water, and huge electrical energy supplies. Missouri lawmakers want to get in on the AI action, and the AI data centers could use as much as 12% of total U.S. electricity by 2028.
John Coffman, a Webster Groves attorney and counsel with the Consumers Council of Missouri, worries about spiking rate costs and also about the longevity of AI operations and their data centers.
“There’s the risk that they go out of business and then we’re all definitely picking up the tab for the energy plants that were built or required for that one customer,” Coffman said.
In the spring, the Missouri General Assembly considered — but did not pass — a number of policies concerning how Missouri might regulate the forthcoming AI data centers. Coffman expects the topic to return to the Capitol in 2026.
“I think it’s important, when you’re looking at adding these types of projects to the system, that you provide consumer protections to protect the rest of us from having to bail out a project,” he said.
Electrical power experts say it’s likely AI and its power-hungry data centers will be here to stay. But when it comes to internet technology, skeptics argue that much is uncertain.
Contacting Missouri PSC
Environmentalists and consumer advocates suggest submitting comments on Ameren’s Rush Island plan to the Missouri Public Service Commission. They advise that residents must create an account with the PSC to submit a comment.
In addition, those who wish to comment must mention Case No. EA-2025-0238. A submission portal can be found here.
Environmental Echo 