Gary L. Rainwater

From Global Energy Monitor

Gary L. Rainwater has been president and chief executive officer of Ameren since January 2004. Prior to taking on the title of CEO, Rainwater had served as Ameren's president and chief operating officer since 2001. Rainwater joined Union Electric Company, which is now the Ameren utility company AmerenUE, in 1979.[1]

In 2005, Ameren operated 63 coal-fired generating units with total capacity of 10,719 megawatts.[2]

Affiliations

Rainwater is on the boards of the Edison Electric Institute, the Association of Edison Illuminating Companies, the St. Louis Regional Commerce and Growth Association, Civic Progress, the Missouri Historical Society, the St. Louis USO, the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis, and US Bank.[1]

Compensation

In May 2007, Forbes listed Rainwater as receiving $1.44 million in total compensation for the latest fiscal year, with a three-year total compensation of $5.7 million. He ranked 39th on the list of CEOs in the Utilities industry, and 462nd among all CEOs in the United States.[3]

Existing coal-fired power plants

Ameren is the fifth highest producer of coal-fired energy in the U.S.[2] The company had 31 coal-fired generating stations in 2005, with 10,719 MW of capacity. Here is a list of Ameren's coal power plants with capacity over 100 MW:[4][5][6]

Plant Name State County Year(s) Built Capacity 2007 CO2 Emissions 2006 SO2 Emissions
Labadie MO Franklin 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973 2389 MW 16,400,000 tons 51,445 tons
Rush Island MO Jefferson 1976, 1977 1242 MW 6,828,000 tons 28,674 tons
Newton IL Jasper 1977, 1982 1235 MW 7,799,000 tons 20,922 tons
Joppa IL Massac 1953, 1954, 1955 1100 MW 9,222,000 tons 26,408 tons
Sioux MO St. Charles 1967, 1968 1099 MW 6,043,000 tons 44,148 tons
Coffeen IL Montgomery 1965, 1972 1005 MW 6,699,000 tons 22,007 tons
Meramec MO St. Louis 1953, 1954, 1959, 1961 923 MW 6,635,000 tons 17,225 tons
E.D. Edwards IL Peoria 1960, 1968, 1972 780 MW 4,696,000 tons 50,126 tons
Duck Creek IL Fulton 1976 441 MW 2,545,000 tons N/A
Meredosia IL Morgan 1948, 1949, 1960 354 MW 1,809,000 tons N/A
Hutsonville IL Crawford 1953, 1954 150 MW 897,000 tons N/A

In 2005, Ameren's 11 coal-fired power plants emitted 69.6 million tons of CO2 (1.2% of all U.S. CO2 emissions) and at least 261,000 tons of SO2 (1.7% of all U.S. SO2 emissions).

Death and disease attributable to fine particle pollution from Ameren coal plants

In 2010, Abt Associates issued a study commissioned by the Clean Air Task Force, a nonprofit research and advocacy organization, quantifying the deaths and other health effects attributable to fine particle pollution from coal-fired power plants.[7] Fine particle pollution consists of a complex mixture of soot, heavy metals, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen oxides. Among these particles, the most dangerous are those less than 2.5 microns in diameter, which are so tiny that they can evade the lung's natural defenses, enter the bloodstream, and be transported to vital organs. Impacts are especially severe among the elderly, children, and those with respiratory disease. The study found that over 13,000 deaths and tens of thousands of cases of chronic bronchitis, acute bronchitis, asthma, congestive heart failure, acute myocardial infarction, dysrhythmia, ischemic heart disease, chronic lung disease, and pneumonia each year are attributable to fine particle pollution from U.S. coal plant emissions. These deaths and illnesses are major examples of coal's external costs, i.e. uncompensated harms inflicted upon the public at large. Low-income and minority populations are disproportionately impacted as well, due to the tendency of companies to avoid locating power plants upwind of affluent communities. To monetize the health impact of fine particle pollution from each coal plant, Abt assigned a value of $7,300,000 to each 2010 mortality, based on a range of government and private studies. Valuations of illnesses ranged from $52 for an asthma episode to $440,000 for a case of chronic bronchitis.[8]

Table 1: Death and disease attributable to fine particle pollution from Ameren coal plants

Type of Impact Annual Incidence Valuation
Deaths 476 $2.9 billion
Heart attacks 734 $68.7 million
Asthma attacks 8,063 $0.36 million
Chronic bronchitis 292 $110.9 million
Asthma ER visits 344 $0.16 million
Hospital admissions 1,121 $6.8 million

Source: "Health Impacts - annual - of Existing Plants," Clean Air Task Force Excel worksheet, available under "Data Annex" at "Death and Disease from Power Plants," Clean Air Task Force. Note: This data includes the following plants owned by Ameren and affiliates AmerenEU and Central Illinois Light Co.: Coffeen, Meredosia, Newton, Labadie, Meramec, Sioux, Rush Island, E.D. Edwards, and Duck Creek.

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 [p://www.ameren.com/AboutUs/ADC_AU_garyrainwater.asp Gary L. Rainwater,] Ameren, accessed December 2008.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Existing U.S. Coal Plants
  3. CEO Compensation: #462 Gary L Rainwater, Forbes.com, May 3, 2007.
  4. Existing Electric Generating Units in the United States, 2005, Energy Information Administration, accessed April 2008.
  5. Environmental Integrity Project, Dirty Kilowatts: America’s Most Polluting Power Plants, July 2007.
  6. Dig Deeper, Carbon Monitoring for Action database, accessed June 2008.
  7. "The Toll from Coal: An Updated Assessment of Death and Disease from America's Dirtiest Energy Source," Clean Air Task Force, September 2010.
  8. "Technical Support Document for the Powerplant Impact Estimator Software Tool," Prepared for the Clean Air Task Force by Abt Associates, July 2010

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