Ameren Announces Offer for Voluntary Retirement

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Oct 21, 2011, 09:00 ET

ST. LOUIS, Oct. 21, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Ameren Corporation (NYSE: AEE) announced today a voluntary retirement offer is being extended to certain employees of Ameren Missouri, and Ameren Services Company, an Ameren Corporation subsidiary that provides support services.

Eligible employees must be age 58 or over as of Dec. 31, 2011, and be full-time, regular employees. Management and employees, who are represented by unions that have agreed to participate, are eligible. The offer is not available to officers and certain management employees in key business areas, due to operational needs.

Approximately 715 of the roughly 5,700 Ameren Missouri and Ameren Services employees are eligible.

"While our retail electric rates in Missouri are already approximately 30 percent below the national average, like everyone, we are tightening our belts during this challenging economic period by taking prudent, proactive steps to efficiently and effectively manage our costs for the ultimate benefit of our customers," said Thomas R. Voss, chairman, president and CEO of Ameren Corporation. "Clearly, we will not make staffing reductions that affect our ability to continue to provide safe and reliable service. However, this program is part of our continued efforts to create an organization that can operate effectively in an environment where demand for energy has softened, costs are rising and our reimbursement for those costs in rates continues to lag. Looking ahead, we will remain focused on maintaining our financial strength and flexibility and on delivering safe, reliable and affordable energy to our customers and solid long-term returns for our shareholders."

Eligible employees are being offered a lump sum payment of two weeks' pay for each full year of service with a minimum of 13 weeks and a maximum of 52 weeks of pay. Eligible employees will have until Dec. 22, 2011, to decide whether to accept the voluntary separation offer. Those who accept are expected to leave the company by year-end 2011.

With assets of $23 billion, St. Louis-based Ameren Corporation owns subsidiaries that operate a diverse mix of electric generating plants strategically located in the Midwest market, with a generating capacity of more than 16,500 megawatts. Through our Missouri and Illinois subsidiaries, we serve 2.4 million electric customers and nearly 1 million natural gas customers in a 64,000-square-mile area. Our mission is to meet their energy needs in a safe, reliable, efficient and environmentally responsible manner. For more information, visit Ameren.com.

Forward-looking Statements

Statements in this release not based on historical facts are considered "forward-looking" and, accordingly, involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed. Although such forward-looking statements have been made in good faith and are based on reasonable assumptions, there is no assurance that the expected results will be achieved. These statements include (without limitation) statements as to future expectations, beliefs, plans, strategies, objectives, events, conditions, and financial performance. In connection with the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, we are providing this cautionary statement to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. The following factors, in addition to those discussed under Risk Factors in Ameren's Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2010, and elsewhere in this release and in our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, could cause actual results to differ materially from management expectations suggested in such forward-looking statements:

regulatory, judicial, or legislative actions, including changes in regulatory policies and ratemaking determinations, such as the court appeals related to Ameren Missouri's 2009 and 2010 electric rate orders; the Missouri Public Service Commission's fuel and purchased power cost recovery mechanism prudence review and future appeals; and future regulatory, judicial, or legislative actions that seek to limit or reverse rate increases;
changes in laws and other governmental actions, including monetary, fiscal, and tax policies;
the effects of increased competition in the future due to, among other things, deregulation of certain aspects of our business at both the state and federal levels, and the implementation of deregulation;
the effects on demand for our services resulting from technological advances, including advances in energy efficiency and distributed generation sources, which generate electricity at the site of consumption;
increasing capital expenditure and operating expense requirements and our ability to recover these costs through our regulatory frameworks;
the level and volatility of future prices for power in the Midwest;
business and economic conditions, including their impact on interest rates, bad debt expense, and demand for our products;
our assessment of our liquidity;
the impact of the adoption of new accounting guidance and the application of appropriate technical accounting rules and guidance;
actions of credit rating agencies and the effects of such actions;
the impact of weather conditions and other natural phenomena on us and our customers;
the impact of system outages;
generation, transmission and distribution asset construction, installation, performance, and cost recovery;
operation of Ameren Missouri's nuclear power facility, including planned and unplanned outages, decommissioning costs and potential increased costs as a result of recent nuclear-related developments in Japan;
the effects of strategic initiatives, including mergers, acquisitions and divestitures;
the impact of current environmental regulations on utilities and power generating companies and the expectation that more stringent requirements, including those related to greenhouse gases, other emissions, and energy efficiency, will be enacted over time, which could limit or terminate the operation of certain of our generating units, increase our costs, result in an impairment of our assets, reduce our customers' demand for electricity or natural gas, or otherwise have a negative financial effect;
the impact of complying with renewable energy portfolio requirements in Missouri;
labor disputes, work force reductions, future wage and employee benefits costs, including changes in discount rates and returns on benefit plan assets;
legal and administrative proceedings; and
acts of sabotage, war, terrorism, or intentionally disruptive acts.

Given these uncertainties, undue reliance should not be placed on these forward-looking statements. Except to the extent required by the federal securities laws, we undertake no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements to reflect new information or future events.

SOURCE Ameren Corporation