Ameren To Close Rush Island Plant

(Festus) Missouri-based utility Ameren Corporation says it will close its coal-fired power plant near Festus nearly 20 years early rather than spend millions of dollars installing new pollution controls.

A federal appeals court last August ordered the controls on sulfur dioxide levels to be installed at the plant near Festus.

Ameren had been planning to close the Rush Island plant in 2039.

No specific date for its shutdown has been released, but it is expected to happen before 2024.

Ameren had submitted that air quality monitors near the plant already met federal and state standards.