ST. LOUIS _ Ameren announced Monday that it intends to invest $8 billion in renewable energy projects over the next two decades, and will accelerate its plans to reduce carbon emissions and retire a pair of coal-fired power plants _ reaching "net-zero" carbon emissions by 2050.
The company's two largest coal plants, though, will still run until the late 2030s and early 2040s.
The moves mark significant progress for the utility and an acknowledgment that it needs to make big changes, some outside experts said, as costs for renewable energy drop dramatically. It's an increasingly familiar playbook for large U.S. power utilities. A growing list have made similar commitments to reach net zero by mid-century, while also planning to keep major coal plants running for decades.
