Community Solar
What is Community Solar and how does it work?
Community Solar is a simple solution for customers who want to take part in solar generation without installing solar panels on their home or business. Our program allows eligible customers to subscribe to blocks of a shared solar system at a locked in solar generation charge. That means the solar generation portion of your rate won’t change while you are a subscriber. We know our customers value cleaner energy, and we do too. This program enables us to work together to accomplish that.
Current Ameren Missouri electric customers that are under Residential Service 1M or Small General Service 2M classification are eligible for the Community Solar program. Participants will be enrolled on a first-come, first-served basis. If you have received a disconnect notice in the last 12 months, have requested an optional time of use rate, or participate in net metering, you are not eligible to participate in this program.
Each subscribed block of solar energy will be billed monthly at the Community Solar rate ($.1391/kWh), which is $13.91 per 100 kWh block. This will be a separate line item on your monthly energy statement as shown in the graphic. The same amount of kWh (number of blocks enrolled times 100 kWh) will be deducted from your monthly usage before your regular rate is applied.
If you would like more information about statement charges, visit the Understanding Your Statement page.
A block of solar energy is equivalent to 100 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of power. The amount of blocks you can purchase is limited to one half of the average of your monthly usage based on the last 12 months of billing. For example, if your average monthly usage for the last 12 months is 1,300 kWh, one half of that monthly average is 650 kWh, so you would be eligible to purchase up to six (6) 100 kWh blocks of solar energy.
Signing up is easy. You can:
- log in to your Ameren Missouri account
- create an online account if you don't already have one and select "Programs" from your account dashboard
- or call 800.552.7583
Commitment to Construct: Community Solar is Expanding
Thanks to ongoing customer support, Community Solar is growing beyond just one facility. On July 1, 2021, Ameren Missouri will be committing to construction of the second facility in Montgomery County, Missouri. At this time, customers who enrolled will be committed to participating for 2 years (unless there is a waitlist available to fill their spot at the facility).
Through the Community Solar program, customers can sign up now to get on the waiting list to purchase 100 kilowatt-hour blocks of solar energy generated at Ameren Missouri’s Community Solar facilities. No matter when a subscriber joins the program, everyone's price will be the same. Stay tuned for more details this summer.
"As a condo owner in South City, St. Louis, installing my own solar panels and battery system isn't a practical option for me. Ameren Missouri's Community Solar Program gives me a convenient and economical way to acquire the energy I need without contributing to greenhouse gas emissions…"
- Gary F. of St. Louis
Common FAQs
Community Solar offers you a more convenient way to help add solar generation to the electric grid and lock the power generation portion of your bill in place so it won’t be subject to future rate increases while you are subscribed.
One great benefit of our program is that the Solar Generation Charge won’t be subject to future rate increases while you are subscribed. The Total Facilities Charge is not associated with the actual solar plant and will continue to be subject to rate adjustments, as will the charges associated with your usage that is not provided through the Community Solar program.
The Community Solar unit (energy center) you subscribe to will go through a construction planning process as subscribers join the program. Once Ameren Missouri formally commits to construction, the options available change. Where the energy center is in this process determines how you can adjust your subscription:
- Prior to construction commitment, you can adjust your blocks up or down or cancel completely with no restrictions.
- Once construction commitment occurs, you can adjust your blocks up or down as long as you remain subscribed to a minimum of one (1) – 100 kWh block.
If you request additional blocks and none are available, your request will be placed on a wait list. - At the time of and after construction commitment, you are able to cancel your entire subscription as long as there is a person on the waiting list to take your place or if you move out of the Ameren Missouri service territory.
