ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - Ameren Missouri has announced plans to boost their capacity and create jobs in the Missouri region.
Rob Dixon, Ameren Economic Development Senior Director, says Ameren Missouri will invest $16.2 billion over the next half decade in order to handle future demand.
Dixon tells KMOX what is driving this demand is economic growth.
"We're seeing growth in manufacturing, growth in data centers, and the tech industries," said Dixon. "Really more so than ever before, our ability to make sure that we have clean, reliable energy is what is going to bring it here."
Dixon says this will create thousands of jobs directly and indirectly.
"Folks that are building the infrastructure, building the new businesses that come and help them expand," said Dixon. "It's going to be helping folks who work in those facilities whether they are manufacturers or data centers."
The goal of the investment is to allow Ameren to better handle future demand and address outages quicker.
The project will increase Ameren's capacity by building new gas, solar, wind and nuclear energy generators.
Dixon could not speak to what impact this investment will have on customer rates but shares they went with the low cost option.
"This plan is a thoughtful and balanced mix of energy resources that we bring forward in order to serve the demand we have today and the demand we expect to see out in the future," said Dixon.