On June 13, Richard Mark celebrates his five-year anniversary with Ameren Illinois. Since being appointed president and chairman in June of 2012, Mark has led Ameren Illinois through a period of unprecedented growth.
“Our financial performance has been very solid, due in part to progressive legislative and regulatory policy that my team has helped secure in Illinois,” Mark told The American. “Our S&P company credit rating has improved from BBB- in 2011 to BBB+ currently. With revenues of $3 billion and capital investment growing by more than 30 percent in the last five years, Ameren Illinois continues to deliver solid returns to its shareholders.”
At the same time, he said, the customers are served. “Our electric rates remain among the lowest in the nation,” Mark said, comparing Ameren Illinois’ average kilowatt charge of 10.54 cents to the Midwest average kilowatt charge of 12.76 cents and national average of 12.93 cents.
“We also host bill-support events that provide income-qualified customers with grants to help them catch up on their utility bills,” Mark said. “We have assisted thousands of customers and distributed more than $4 million in grants since the program began in 2014.” At the events, Ameren Illinois reps also speak with customers and show easy energy-saving steps they can take. “Our hope is that the bill assistance we provide gives these customers added financial flexibility to cover other essentials such as food, medicine and child care,” Mark said.
This same philosophy carries over into serving business customers. Ameren Illinois recently hosted an Energy Leadership Summit in Springfield, Illinois, bringing its highest energy using customers together to help them prepare for impending changes caused by new state legislation. “We provided them with information they could use to run their operations, and took time to listen and understand their challenges,” Mark said. “Several representatives of the attending companies told me they truly appreciated the opportunity to share their input with the leaders of the utility company.”
The American talked to Mark about his five years at the helm.
The American: What is different about Illinois’ regulatory structure that has enabled you to undertake a massive overhaul of the state’s energy infrastructure?
Richard Mark: Simply put, the state of Illinois’ progressive ratemaking model provides certainty that we can recover investments in our electric and natural gas energy delivery systems more quickly. That’s good for our company, our customers, and our investors.
For our customers, that means we’re modernizing the century-old grid and delivering energy more reliably. We have added intelligent switches and smart sensors that quickly detect and restore outages. A smarter grid means fewer outages and it gives customers the opportunity to save on their bills by participating in pricing and energy usage programs enabled by installation of smart meters. On the natural gas side, we’re able to strengthen the integrity and performance of our natural gas system and replace outdated transmission pipe with newer, corrosion-resistant materials.
The Illinois state legislature and our Commerce Commission deserve credit for positioning Illinois as a national leader in the development of a progressive energy policy. Since the Energy Infrastructure Modernization Act (EIMA) – or Smart Grid Bill – was passed in 2011, Ameren Illinois has met every metric outlined in the performance-based formula ratemaking legislation. To date, Ameren Illinois’ grid modernization initiatives have resulted in an overall 17 percent increase in reliability and saved customers an estimated $45 million each year.
The enhancements Ameren Illinois is making is capturing the attention of national policy makers. The 2015 National Grid Modernization Index, developed by the GridWise alliance and the Smart Grid Policy Center, ranks Illinois 2nd in the United States for its grid modernization policies, investments, and activities, trailing only California.
The American: Has Ameren Illinois increased its workforce?
Richard Mark: It takes resources to build this next generation energy system and we are adding new workers every day. Excluding attrition and retirements, more than 650 new Ameren Illinois jobs have been added and more than 1,000 outside contractor positions are working on site to support our projects and contribute to economic growth in central and southern Illinois.
A stronger, more modern grid is giving area businesses the confidence that their energy needs will be met today and in the future. As we undertake this massive overhaul of a century-old system, we’ll continue to partner with local businesses to expand and grow here in the Greater Metro East area.
The American: What diversity and inclusion initiatives are in place at Ameren Illinois?
Richard Mark: I’m a strong advocate and supporter of diversity and inclusion through training, employee enrichment, community outreach and supplier development. As one of the initial Executive Sponsors of Ameren’s Network of Minority Employees (ANME), we’re providing development, networking and training opportunities for Ameren’s minorities. This year we have launched a new program to drive home the importance of this topic by offering series of presentations and panel discussions with our co-workers. We’re calling it the “Courage Tour.”
Since 2012, the value of goods and services Ameren Illinois has purchased from minority- and woman-owned businesses increased by $98 million. To help maintain a steady pipeline of diverse suppliers, hundreds of entrepreneurs, business owners and Ameren procurement reps meet annually to network and identify buy-sell opportunities at Ameren’s Supplier Diversity Symposiums.
We all host diversity outreach events in communities throughout Illinois, where Ameren partners with local organizations to identify potential new employees with diverse backgrounds.
Also, in May 2015 Ameren Illinois joined four other Illinois utilities in announcing the formation of the Illinois Utilities Business Diversity Council, where I serve as vice chairman. This council is designed to grow business opportunities for diverse suppliers through closer collaboration, technical development and sharing of best practices.
