Dive Brief:

• Ameren has asked the Missouri Public Service Commission to approve a plan to encourage electric vehicle adoption in the state, including incentives for home and workplace chargers and the replacement of commercial equipment.
• The application comes 10 months after the PSC declined to regulate charging equipment, effectively ending Ameren's efforts to install and own charging ports, because the utility would not be able to recover the costs from customers.
• Ameren's "Charge Ahead" program would also allow for a revision of the utility's line-extension policy, helping commercial and industrial customers install charging equipment more affordably.

Dive Insight:

Ameren is going to get EV charging equipment into its service territory one way or another. After its plan to install more than a dozen chargers was squashed last year, the utility is now looking to encourage development across its customer classes. Incentives proposed in the Charge Ahead program could benefit residential, commercial or industrial customers, but would not have the utility installing or owning the charging stations.

Ameren Missouri President Michael Moehn said the program aims to eliminate barriers to EV charging and to promote advances in both transportation and in commercial equipment that is cleaner and more efficient. "At the same time, the program will help provide lower costs to customers, improve air quality by reducing emissions and help promote economic growth by ensuring Missouri maintains a competitive business environment," Moehm said.

The program includes incentives for charging ports at offices, apartment buildings and condos. It also has incentives for public EV charging stations, including fast-charging stations near major roads. The program also envisions commercial customers moving to electric machinery; for example, replacing a standard forklift with an electric one.

The Charge Ahead proposal would fit alongside Ameren's broader efforts to bring more clean energy onto its grid. Last year, the utility filed an integrated resource plan that included at least 700 MW of wind generation by 2020 at a cost of about $1 billion, along with 100 MW of solar over the next decade.

Ameren has set a goal to reduce carbon emissions 80% by 2050, compared with 2005 levels.