Ameren Corporation NYSE: AEE was created December 31, 1997 by the merger of Missouri's Union Electric Company (formerly NYSE: UEP) and the neighboring Central Illinois Public Service Company (CIPSCO Inc. holding, formerly NYSE: CIP).[7] It is now a holding company for several power companies and energy companies. The company is based in St. Louis, Missouri, serving 2.4 million electric, and 900,000 natural gas customers across 64,000 sq. mi.[8] [9]
Ameren is the holding company for the following:[7]
AmerenUE, Union Electric Company, 1997
AmerenCIPS, Central Illinois Public Service Company, 1997
AmerenEnergy Resources, holding company, 2000
AmerenEnergy Marketing
AmerenEnergy Generating
AmerenCILCO, Central Illinois Light Company, 2003
AmerenIP, Illinois Power Company, 2004
The AmerenUE subsidiary owns Bagnell Dam on the Osage River, which forms the Lake of the Ozarks. AmerenUE is responsible for managing water levels on the lake according to federal regulations.
Ameren Corporation (Ameren) is an utility holding company. The Company’s subsidiaries include Union Electric Company (UE), Ameren Illinois Company (AIC) and Ameren Energy Generating Company (Genco). UE is an Ameren Corporation subsidiary that operates a rate-regulated electric generation, transmission and distribution business, and a rate-regulated natural gas transmission and distribution business in Missouri, doing business as Ameren Missouri. Genco is a Resources Company subsidiary that operates a merchant electric generation business in Illinois and Missouri and holds an 80% ownership interest in Electric Energy, Inc. (EEI), which operates merchant electric generation facilities. On August 2, 2010, Ameren announced the formation of Ameren Transmission Company (ATX). ATX is an Ameren Corporation dedicated to electric transmission infrastructure investment.
AIC is an Ameren Corporation is a subsidiary that operates a rate-regulated electric and natural gas transmission and distribution business in Illinois. This business consists of the combined rate-regulated electric and natural gas transmission and distribution businesses operated by Central Illinois Public Service Company (CIPS), Central Illinois Light Company (CILCO) and Illinois Power Company (IP). Ameren’s subsidiaries are separate, independent legal entities with separate businesses, assets, and liabilities. These subsidiaries operate, as the case may be, rate-regulated electric generation, transmission, and distribution businesses, rate-regulated natural gas transmission and distribution businesses, and merchant generation businesses in Missouri and Illinois. Ameren operates in three segments: Ameren Missouri, Ameren Illinois and Merchant Generation.
Ameren owns an integrated transmission system, which consists of UE, AIC and Ameren Transmission Company of Illinois (ATXI). ATXI is an Ameren Corporation subsidiary, which is engaged in the construction and operation of electric transmission assets in Illinois. Ameren also operates two balancing authority areas, AMMO (the Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator, Inc. (MISO) balancing authority area operated by Ameren, which includes the load and generating assets of UE) and AMIL (the MISO balancing authority area operated by Ameren, which includes the load of AIC and the generating assets of Genco and AmerenEnergy Resources Generating Company (AERG). During the year ended December 31, 2010, the peak demand in AMMO was 8,797 mega-watts and in AMIL was 9,166 mega-watts. The Ameren transmission system directly connects with 15 other balancing authority areas for the exchange of electric energy.
EEI operates its own balancing authority area and its own transmission facilities in southern Illinois. The EEI transmission system is directly connected to MISO, the Tennessee Valley Authority, and Louisville Gas and Electric Company. EEI’s generating units are dispatched separately from those of UE, Genco and AERG. Ameren’s portfolio of natural gas supply resources includes firm transportation capacity and firm no-notice storage capacity leased from interstate pipelines. UE and Genco primarily use the interstate pipeline systems of Panhandle Eastern Pipe Line Company, Trunkline Gas Company, Natural Gas Pipeline Company of America, and Mississippi River Transmission Corporation to transport natural gas to generating units.
During the latter half of the decade, however, deregulation threatened to dramatically shakeup the utilities industry throughout the United States. As such, major utilities began to revamp their business strategies in order to better position themselves for competition in an open market. This held true for Union Electric, and in 1995 the company announced that it planned to merge with Illinois-based CIPSCO Inc. The firm's president and CEO Charles W. Mueller offered his take on the deal in a 1995 company press release claiming, "The merger combines two financially strong, low-cost energy providers with common visions and strategies and highly compatible operations and managements. This transaction allows us to spread the cost of advanced energy delivery systems over a larger base, while keeping our rates low and enhancing our reliability and service quality." In addition, Mueller stated that the union would "enable us to take full advantage of the changing industry landscape to capitalize on our financial strengths, our service-oriented cultures and our lean organizational structures. By doing so, we will be well positioned to continue to provide superior shareholder returns and customer benefits, both now and into the next century."
The $1.3 billion transaction--expected to save the firm approximately $759 million over a ten-year period--was eventually completed in December 1997 after undergoing scrutiny by several regulatory commissions. A new company, Ameren Corporation, was created to act as a holding company for Union Electric's operations, which were folded into AmerenUE, and CIPSCO, which became known as AmerenCIPS. Upon completion of the deal, Ameren ranked 11th in the United States in terms of generating capacity.
In its first year of operation, Ameren began to prepare for future deregulation in the electricity industry. In 1999, the company's large commercial customers were allowed to choose energy suppliers, which forced it to seek out major contracts with powerful industrial concerns, including Archer Daniels Midland--Illinois' largest electricity customer. Additionally, the company focused on expanding its generating capacity, providing its customers with a variety of new services and branching out into nonregulated ventures. In 2000, Ameren restructured its holdings, transferring five of its AmerenCIPS power plants to a newly created subsidiary, AmerenEnergy Generating Company.
In the early years of the new century, Ameren continued to pursue growth in its energy production and delivery markets. At the same time, the company became embroiled in a rate dispute with the Missouri Public Service Commission (MPSC). In 2001, the MPSC set forth a proposal of an electric revenue reduction of over $300 million per year. According to the company, Ameren had not raised its rates in Missouri in over 15 years and had provided over $1 billion in rate reductions and consumer credits since the early 1990s. With rates already 14 percent below the national average and 10 percent below 1987 levels, the company was concerned that the new proposal set forth by the MPSC would hinder the company's ability to make future infrastructure investments in Missouri's energy sector. As such, Ameren and the MPSC hammered out a new deal in July 2002 that called for a rate freeze until June 30, 2006, $110 million in rate reductions, and a pledge to pursue energy conservation and energy infrastructure improvements.
In early 2003, Ameren acquired Illinois-based CILCORP Inc. The $1.4 billion deal positioned Ameren as Illinois' second-largest utility and added 400,000 customers to its arsenal. While Ameren battled a weak economy and a downturn in the energy sector, the company remained dedicated to its core strategy of pursing growth, controlling costs, and providing top notch service to all of its customers.
Principal Subsidiaries: AmerenCILCO; Ameren CIPS; AmerenUE; AmerenEnergy; AmerenEnergy Resources; Ameren Services; CIPSCO Investment Company; CILCORP Investment Management; CILCORP Energy Services Inc.
Principal Competitors: Aquila Inc.; Exelon Corporation; Great Plains Energy Inc.
OVERALL
Beta: 0.67
Market Cap (Mil.): $7,041.50
Shares Outstanding (Mil.): 240.65
Annual Dividend: 1.54
Yield (%): 5.26
FINANCIALS
AEE Industry Sector
P/E (TTM): 50.21 15.39 22.22
EPS (TTM): -80.24 -- --
ROI: 0.70 7.91 1.36
ROE: 1.78 20.46 2.91
Statistics:
Public Company
Incorporated: 1922 as Union Electric Light and Power Company
Employees: 7,422
Sales: $3.84 billion (2002)
Stock Exchanges: New York
Ticker Symbol: AEE
NAIC: 221112 Fossil Fuel Electric Power Generation; 221113 Nuclear Electric Power Generation; 221122 Electric Power Distribution; 486210 Pipeline Transportation of Natural Gas; 221210 Natural Gas Distribution
Key Dates:
1922: Union Electric Light and Power Company is incorporated in Missouri.
1931: Lakeside Light & Power Company is organized.
1937: The company changes its name to Union Electric Company of Missouri.
1945: Laclede Power & Light Company is acquired.
1956: The company adopts the name Union Electric Company.
1961: Construction is launched for a plant at Taum Sauk.
1970: The Labadie facility begins operations.
1984: The Callaway nuclear plant goes online.
1997: Union Electric and CIPSCO Inc. merge to create Ameren Corporation.
2003: Ameren acquires CILCORP Inc.
Name Age Since Current Position
Voss, Thomas 63 2010 Chairman of the Board, President, Chief Executive Officer
Lyons, Martin 44 2009 Chief Financial Officer, Principal Accounting Officer, Senior Vice President
Nelson, Gregory 53 2011 Senior Vice President, General Counsel
Birdsong, Jerre 56 2001 Vice President, Treasurer
Sullivan, Steven 50 2011 Secretary
Stokes, Patrick 68 2004 Independent Director
Jackson, Gayle 64 2005 Independent Director
Johnson, James 58 2005 Independent Director
Woodard, Jack 67 2006 Independent Director
Brauer, Stephen 65 2006 Independent Director
Galvin, Walter 64 2007 Independent Director
Wilson, Stephen 62 2009 Independent Director
Fitzsimmons, Ellen 50 2009 Independent Director
Lipstein, Steven 54 2010 Independent Director
Address:
One Ameren Plaza
1901 Chouteau Avenue
St. Louis, Missouri 63103
U.S.A.
Ameren is the holding company for the following:[7]
AmerenUE, Union Electric Company, 1997
AmerenCIPS, Central Illinois Public Service Company, 1997
AmerenEnergy Resources, holding company, 2000
AmerenEnergy Marketing
AmerenEnergy Generating
AmerenCILCO, Central Illinois Light Company, 2003
AmerenIP, Illinois Power Company, 2004
The AmerenUE subsidiary owns Bagnell Dam on the Osage River, which forms the Lake of the Ozarks. AmerenUE is responsible for managing water levels on the lake according to federal regulations.
Ameren Corporation (Ameren) is an utility holding company. The Company’s subsidiaries include Union Electric Company (UE), Ameren Illinois Company (AIC) and Ameren Energy Generating Company (Genco). UE is an Ameren Corporation subsidiary that operates a rate-regulated electric generation, transmission and distribution business, and a rate-regulated natural gas transmission and distribution business in Missouri, doing business as Ameren Missouri. Genco is a Resources Company subsidiary that operates a merchant electric generation business in Illinois and Missouri and holds an 80% ownership interest in Electric Energy, Inc. (EEI), which operates merchant electric generation facilities. On August 2, 2010, Ameren announced the formation of Ameren Transmission Company (ATX). ATX is an Ameren Corporation dedicated to electric transmission infrastructure investment.
AIC is an Ameren Corporation is a subsidiary that operates a rate-regulated electric and natural gas transmission and distribution business in Illinois. This business consists of the combined rate-regulated electric and natural gas transmission and distribution businesses operated by Central Illinois Public Service Company (CIPS), Central Illinois Light Company (CILCO) and Illinois Power Company (IP). Ameren’s subsidiaries are separate, independent legal entities with separate businesses, assets, and liabilities. These subsidiaries operate, as the case may be, rate-regulated electric generation, transmission, and distribution businesses, rate-regulated natural gas transmission and distribution businesses, and merchant generation businesses in Missouri and Illinois. Ameren operates in three segments: Ameren Missouri, Ameren Illinois and Merchant Generation.
Ameren owns an integrated transmission system, which consists of UE, AIC and Ameren Transmission Company of Illinois (ATXI). ATXI is an Ameren Corporation subsidiary, which is engaged in the construction and operation of electric transmission assets in Illinois. Ameren also operates two balancing authority areas, AMMO (the Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator, Inc. (MISO) balancing authority area operated by Ameren, which includes the load and generating assets of UE) and AMIL (the MISO balancing authority area operated by Ameren, which includes the load of AIC and the generating assets of Genco and AmerenEnergy Resources Generating Company (AERG). During the year ended December 31, 2010, the peak demand in AMMO was 8,797 mega-watts and in AMIL was 9,166 mega-watts. The Ameren transmission system directly connects with 15 other balancing authority areas for the exchange of electric energy.
EEI operates its own balancing authority area and its own transmission facilities in southern Illinois. The EEI transmission system is directly connected to MISO, the Tennessee Valley Authority, and Louisville Gas and Electric Company. EEI’s generating units are dispatched separately from those of UE, Genco and AERG. Ameren’s portfolio of natural gas supply resources includes firm transportation capacity and firm no-notice storage capacity leased from interstate pipelines. UE and Genco primarily use the interstate pipeline systems of Panhandle Eastern Pipe Line Company, Trunkline Gas Company, Natural Gas Pipeline Company of America, and Mississippi River Transmission Corporation to transport natural gas to generating units.
During the latter half of the decade, however, deregulation threatened to dramatically shakeup the utilities industry throughout the United States. As such, major utilities began to revamp their business strategies in order to better position themselves for competition in an open market. This held true for Union Electric, and in 1995 the company announced that it planned to merge with Illinois-based CIPSCO Inc. The firm's president and CEO Charles W. Mueller offered his take on the deal in a 1995 company press release claiming, "The merger combines two financially strong, low-cost energy providers with common visions and strategies and highly compatible operations and managements. This transaction allows us to spread the cost of advanced energy delivery systems over a larger base, while keeping our rates low and enhancing our reliability and service quality." In addition, Mueller stated that the union would "enable us to take full advantage of the changing industry landscape to capitalize on our financial strengths, our service-oriented cultures and our lean organizational structures. By doing so, we will be well positioned to continue to provide superior shareholder returns and customer benefits, both now and into the next century."
The $1.3 billion transaction--expected to save the firm approximately $759 million over a ten-year period--was eventually completed in December 1997 after undergoing scrutiny by several regulatory commissions. A new company, Ameren Corporation, was created to act as a holding company for Union Electric's operations, which were folded into AmerenUE, and CIPSCO, which became known as AmerenCIPS. Upon completion of the deal, Ameren ranked 11th in the United States in terms of generating capacity.
In its first year of operation, Ameren began to prepare for future deregulation in the electricity industry. In 1999, the company's large commercial customers were allowed to choose energy suppliers, which forced it to seek out major contracts with powerful industrial concerns, including Archer Daniels Midland--Illinois' largest electricity customer. Additionally, the company focused on expanding its generating capacity, providing its customers with a variety of new services and branching out into nonregulated ventures. In 2000, Ameren restructured its holdings, transferring five of its AmerenCIPS power plants to a newly created subsidiary, AmerenEnergy Generating Company.
In the early years of the new century, Ameren continued to pursue growth in its energy production and delivery markets. At the same time, the company became embroiled in a rate dispute with the Missouri Public Service Commission (MPSC). In 2001, the MPSC set forth a proposal of an electric revenue reduction of over $300 million per year. According to the company, Ameren had not raised its rates in Missouri in over 15 years and had provided over $1 billion in rate reductions and consumer credits since the early 1990s. With rates already 14 percent below the national average and 10 percent below 1987 levels, the company was concerned that the new proposal set forth by the MPSC would hinder the company's ability to make future infrastructure investments in Missouri's energy sector. As such, Ameren and the MPSC hammered out a new deal in July 2002 that called for a rate freeze until June 30, 2006, $110 million in rate reductions, and a pledge to pursue energy conservation and energy infrastructure improvements.
In early 2003, Ameren acquired Illinois-based CILCORP Inc. The $1.4 billion deal positioned Ameren as Illinois' second-largest utility and added 400,000 customers to its arsenal. While Ameren battled a weak economy and a downturn in the energy sector, the company remained dedicated to its core strategy of pursing growth, controlling costs, and providing top notch service to all of its customers.
Principal Subsidiaries: AmerenCILCO; Ameren CIPS; AmerenUE; AmerenEnergy; AmerenEnergy Resources; Ameren Services; CIPSCO Investment Company; CILCORP Investment Management; CILCORP Energy Services Inc.
Principal Competitors: Aquila Inc.; Exelon Corporation; Great Plains Energy Inc.
OVERALL
Beta: 0.67
Market Cap (Mil.): $7,041.50
Shares Outstanding (Mil.): 240.65
Annual Dividend: 1.54
Yield (%): 5.26
FINANCIALS
AEE Industry Sector
P/E (TTM): 50.21 15.39 22.22
EPS (TTM): -80.24 -- --
ROI: 0.70 7.91 1.36
ROE: 1.78 20.46 2.91
Statistics:
Public Company
Incorporated: 1922 as Union Electric Light and Power Company
Employees: 7,422
Sales: $3.84 billion (2002)
Stock Exchanges: New York
Ticker Symbol: AEE
NAIC: 221112 Fossil Fuel Electric Power Generation; 221113 Nuclear Electric Power Generation; 221122 Electric Power Distribution; 486210 Pipeline Transportation of Natural Gas; 221210 Natural Gas Distribution
Key Dates:
1922: Union Electric Light and Power Company is incorporated in Missouri.
1931: Lakeside Light & Power Company is organized.
1937: The company changes its name to Union Electric Company of Missouri.
1945: Laclede Power & Light Company is acquired.
1956: The company adopts the name Union Electric Company.
1961: Construction is launched for a plant at Taum Sauk.
1970: The Labadie facility begins operations.
1984: The Callaway nuclear plant goes online.
1997: Union Electric and CIPSCO Inc. merge to create Ameren Corporation.
2003: Ameren acquires CILCORP Inc.
Name Age Since Current Position
Voss, Thomas 63 2010 Chairman of the Board, President, Chief Executive Officer
Lyons, Martin 44 2009 Chief Financial Officer, Principal Accounting Officer, Senior Vice President
Nelson, Gregory 53 2011 Senior Vice President, General Counsel
Birdsong, Jerre 56 2001 Vice President, Treasurer
Sullivan, Steven 50 2011 Secretary
Stokes, Patrick 68 2004 Independent Director
Jackson, Gayle 64 2005 Independent Director
Johnson, James 58 2005 Independent Director
Woodard, Jack 67 2006 Independent Director
Brauer, Stephen 65 2006 Independent Director
Galvin, Walter 64 2007 Independent Director
Wilson, Stephen 62 2009 Independent Director
Fitzsimmons, Ellen 50 2009 Independent Director
Lipstein, Steven 54 2010 Independent Director
Address:
One Ameren Plaza
1901 Chouteau Avenue
St. Louis, Missouri 63103
U.S.A.