COLUMBIA, MO. -- Columbia city leaders took ownership of the Columbia Energy Center from Ameren Energy Marketing during a signing ceremony at the facility on Wednesday morning.
Columbia City Manager Mike Matthes put his signature on the agreement worth $50 million.
Columbia voters overwhelmingly supported a bond issue to purchase the Columbia Energy Center on the April 5 ballot.
City leaders purchased 25% of the facility last year and has had a lease agreement to purchase additional energy.
By buying the facility now and ending the lease agreement, Columbia Water & Light customers are saving about $1 million a year.
Columbia Water & Light Director Tad Johnsen said, “Currently, the federal energy standards require us to have more capacity to serve our load than we expect our load. This goes to maintaining the reliability of our system. This is really one of the main uses of this facility is to serve as a capacity resource and an energy resource when we need it. It provides a back-up.”
The purchase of the natural gas fired electric generation facility near the Columbia city landfill is not expected to raise electric rates.
The Columbia Energy Center can serve as a back up for intermittent renewable energy resources.
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