Ameren CEO Comments Support View that Merchant Exit Will Include Exit from Retail Supply Business

Comments from Thomas R. Voss, chairman, president and CEO of Ameren Corporation, in prepared remarks associated with Ameren's earnings announced today, support the view that Ameren is seeking to exit its competitive retail energy supply business.

As previously reported, Ameren had announced in December that it intends to exit its Merchant Generation business segment before the end of the previously estimated useful lives of that business segment's long-lived assets.

At that time, as noted by Matters, a research note from Julien Dumoulin-Smith, Director of Equity Research for the Electric Utilities & IPPs Group at UBS Securities, LLC, indicated that Ameren's statement on the merchant exit implied that Ameren would look to sell its marketing business, including the retail marketing business.

Ameren had not specifically discussed its retail supply business in connection with the merchant exit announcement.

In a statement accompanying fiscal 2012 earnings today, Voss said: "Exiting merchant generation will result in Ameren's businesses being solely rate-regulated utilities with solid growth prospects as we continue to allocate capital to jurisdictions that have modernized their regulatory framework in support of energy infrastructure investments" [emphasis added]

This statement certainly lends credence to the view that the merchant exit will include an exit from the competitive retail business given that Ameren's remaining businesses will be solely rate-regulated utilities.