Ameren cites EPA rules in closing two Illinois power plants

• 12 years ago (2011-10-05)
• David Flin

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Ameren has said that it will shut down two power plants in Illinois by the end of the year because of the cost of complying with new pollution rules from the Environmental Protection Agency. Ameren said that it will shut down the Meredosia and Hutsonville power plants, with the loss of 90 jobs.

In July, the EPA issued the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule that required reductions in SO2 by 73 percent and NOx by 54 percent from 2005 levels.

Steven Sullivan, President and CEO of Ameren Energy Resources, the holding company of Ameren, said: “Numerous options to bring these units into compliance were explored, but the costs were just too high to be justified.”

The Meredosia and Hutsonville plants provided about 4 percent of Ameren Energy Resources’ total generation over the past two years.