Coal dust collects in Cindy McFarland's gutters, and she worries about what it's doing to her water. After 27 years living in Labadie, she says she still wears a mask while working outside and has dealt with coughing and breathing problems she attributes to the coal dust drifting off the nearby power plant. She joined dozens of other demonstrators who marched through St. Louis on Saturday, pushing Ameren to retire its coal units sooner rather than later.
The rally, organized by the People's Joy Parade and the Sierra Club, wound from Lafayette Park to Ameren's St. Louis headquarters on Choteau Avenue, according to FOX 2. Environmental advocates used the march to protest Ameren Missouri's long-term energy plan, calling on the company to retire its coal-powered plants and invest more heavily in renewable energy. Participants raised concerns about the utility's long-term reliance on coal and natural gas, citing worries over air pollution, climate change and customers' energy costs.
At the center of their frustration is Ameren's decision to delay retirement of two coal units at its Labadie Energy Center by at least six years. The utility had originally planned to retire those two units in 2036, but under its newest roadmap it has pushed that retirement back to 2042. The Labadie Energy Center is Missouri's largest coal plant, and under the 2026 Integrated Resource Plan, all four of its furnaces are now slated to keep generating coal-fired electricity at full capacity until 2042, according to the Missourian. That marks a reversal from Ameren's prior plan, which called for retiring two of the four furnaces in 2036 while keeping the remaining two running through 2042.
Residents Describe Daily Life Near the Plant
Patricia Schuba, a Labadie resident who attended the rally, said soot and smog are visible around the plant on any given day, and that pollution can sometimes be smelled in the air. She said Ameren has polluted neighborhoods near the Labadie plant and the broader St. Louis metro area since the plant opened in the 1970s, and that she's concerned about how the company's actions continue to affect residents who live nearby.
Schuba said neighbors have chronic illnesses that could potentially have been prevented without pollution exposure, and argued that Ameren should protect the people who live around its plants and clean up its operations. McFarland, for her part, said coal dust can enter homes simply by opening a window, and that she would like to see the Labadie plant closed or replaced with a safer option for people and the environment.
Ameren Defends Its 20-Year Roadmap
Ameren defended its long-term energy plan in a statement issued on behalf of Gwen Mizell, the company's senior vice president and chief sustainability officer, saying the plan is designed to maintain reliable service while managing customer costs. Mizell said the company's approach aims to deliver reliable energy at the lowest reasonable cost while making investments that benefit both customers and communities, and that Ameren is making use of existing assets while adding cleaner resources, including renewables and battery storage.
Mizell added that this approach helps avoid unnecessary costs and supports reliable service during hot summer afternoons and the coldest winter days. The company's own announcement of its updated 20-year roadmap, posted in late September, describes a plan for maintaining reliable service and managing costs by optimizing a mix of natural gas, solar, energy storage, fuel cells, wind, nuclear and other technologies, according to Ameren's media room. Alongside the Labadie extension, Ameren still plans to retire its Sioux Energy Center in West Alton in 2035, per the same Missourian report.
More Gas Plants, More Renewables
The 2026 plan isn't simply a story of coal sticking around. It calls for 2,400 megawatts of battery storage by 2030, 1,300 megawatts of new solar generation by 2030 with another 2,300 megawatts by 2045, and 1,200 megawatts of new nuclear generation by 2040, though no site or technology has yet been chosen, the company's announcement states. But the plan also lists nine natural gas plants to be built over the next two decades, compared with just two proposed in Ameren's 2023 plan, as reported by St. Louis Public Radio.
That outlet also notes the 2026 Integrated Resource Plan increases the company's renewable energy buildout with new solar plants and battery storage, even as the overall percentage of energy generated by wind and solar declines under the plan. Critics at Saturday's rally argue Ameren should retire its coal-powered units sooner and invest more in clean renewable energy rather than leaning further into natural gas. The Labadie plan remains before the Missouri Public Service Commission for review.
