Union Electric Company
Encyclopedia
The Union Electric Company of Missouri (formerly ) was an electric power utility first organized in 1902. As one of the S&P 500
largest companies in the United States, in 1997 its holding company merged with a smaller neighboring utility, Central Illinois Public Service Company
through its holding company, CIPSCO Inc. (formerly ), to form Ameren
Corporation based in St. Louis, Missouri
.
In 1904 it powered The Palace of Electricity's electric lights at the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis.
By 1906 Union Electric Company was a publicly-traded stock and began to pay a cash dividend
to shareholders, which it continued to pay every year since without interruption until the 1997 merger.
In 1909 Union Electric began selling electric cars in the automobile business, and became the St. Louis agent for Studebaker
and Rauch & Lang automobiles.
In 1919, the Shubert-Jefferson Theatre in the Union Electric building hosted a post-war national caucus, in which the American Legion
was born.
In 1927 A tornado struck St. Louis, destroying over US$10 million worth of property, including Union Electric's electricity lines to the city.
By 1929 Union Electric Company became a subsidiary holding company of North American Company
, (org chart) which had once been one of the original stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average
. Union Electric subsidiaries at the time within the North American pyramid included Union Electric Light and Power (Missouri) and Union Electric Light and Power of Illinois.
In 1929 the Bagnell Dam
was completed on the Osage River
and generated almost 175 megawatts of hydroelectricity for Union Electric, along with creating the Lake of the Ozarks
with 1,400 miles of shoreline.
By 1940 Union Electric Company was one of three holding companies and also one of the ten major direct subsidiaries in the US$2.3 billion North American Company pyramid of by then 80 companies. At that time North American owned more than 79% of the Union Electric stock.
North American Company was broken up by the Securities and Exchange Commission, following the United States Supreme Court decision of April 1, 1946. Union Electric Company was then divested from North American. From then until the 1997 merger Union Electric Company traded publicly as an independent company on the New York Stock Exchange, under the ticker symbol UEP.
By the 1950s Union Electric owned gas operations in and around Alton, Illinois
, and acquired other utilities to become the third largest distributor of natural gas in Missouri.
In 1952 Union Electric joined with its future Ameren mate, the Central Illinois Public Service Company; and also with another later Ameren subsidiary, the Illinois Power Company, to form the Midwest Power Pool system.
In 1963 Union Electric completed construction of one of the largest pumped storage plants at that time, the then-350-megawatt Taum Sauk Plant
, in Reynolds County, Missouri
. Years later, in December 2005 a large section of the Taum Sauk upper reservoir failed, draining over a billion gallons of water in less than half an hour.
In 1984 Union Electric added nuclear energy, when the Callaway Nuclear Generating Station
began providing 1,143 megawatts of power from Callaway County, Missouri
.
In 1993 Union Electric battled a 500-year flood in the St. Louis metropolitan area from the swollen Missouri
and Mississippi River
s. In 1994 Union Electric shared the industry's Edison Award with Midwest Power Systems, Inc., of Des Moines, Iowa
, for their work providing electric service to customers during the 1993 flood disaster.
In 1995 shareholders of both Union Electric Company and CIPSCO Inc. approved the merger of the two companies.
The merger was completed on December 31, 1997, when the two companies became one as Ameren Corporation. At the time of the merger, Union Electric had assets of nearly US$600 million, but still carried nearly US$1.8 billion in long-term debt, down from US$2.5 billion which it had accumulated by the 1980s.
The former Union Electric Company is now a subsidiary of the Ameren Corporation holding company, d/b/a AmerenUE. Ameren is now also a holding company
for several other power companies
and energy companies as well.
The AmerenUE subsidiary continues to own Bagnell Dam. AmerenUE is responsible for managing water levels on the Lake of the Ozarks according to federal regulations; if levels are not appropriate, the lake must be closed until Ameren can solve the problem.
Today, with nine power plants AmerenUE serves 1.2 million power customers and 110,000 gas customers, primarily in Missouri, where more than half of its customers reside in the St. Louis metropolitan area. It also serves adjoining parts of Illinois, and formerly served Iowa as well through the mid-1990s.
S&P 500
The S&P 500 is a free-float capitalization-weighted index published since 1957 of the prices of 500 large-cap common stocks actively traded in the United States. The stocks included in the S&P 500 are those of large publicly held companies that trade on either of the two largest American stock...
largest companies in the United States, in 1997 its holding company merged with a smaller neighboring utility, Central Illinois Public Service Company
Central Illinois Public Service Company
The Central Illinois Public Service Company was an electric streetcar holding company and power utility first organized in 1902. Under its later quarter billion dollar holding company, CIPSCO Inc. , it merged in 1997 with the larger neighboring Union Electric Company of Missouri to form Ameren...
through its holding company, CIPSCO Inc. (formerly ), to form Ameren
Ameren
Ameren Corporation was created December 31, 1997 by the merger of Missouri's Union Electric Company and the neighboring Central Illinois Public Service Company . It is now a holding company for several power companies and energy companies. The company is based in St...
Corporation based in St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
.
History
In 1902 in St. Louis, Missouri, the Union Company was organized as the first incarnation of Union Electric Company. In 1904 Union Electric Company built the 36,000 kW coal-fired Ashley Street Plant in downtown St Louis, Missouri to provide steam heat to downtown St. Louis, as the main source of electricity that existed in St. Louis for years and is still in operation today. The Ashley Street Plant converted to oil in 1972.In 1904 it powered The Palace of Electricity's electric lights at the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis.
By 1906 Union Electric Company was a publicly-traded stock and began to pay a cash dividend
Dividend
Dividends are payments made by a corporation to its shareholder members. It is the portion of corporate profits paid out to stockholders. When a corporation earns a profit or surplus, that money can be put to two uses: it can either be re-invested in the business , or it can be distributed to...
to shareholders, which it continued to pay every year since without interruption until the 1997 merger.
In 1909 Union Electric began selling electric cars in the automobile business, and became the St. Louis agent for Studebaker
Studebaker
Studebaker Corporation was a United States wagon and automobile manufacturer based in South Bend, Indiana. Founded in 1852 and incorporated in 1868 under the name of the Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company, the company was originally a producer of wagons for farmers, miners, and the...
and Rauch & Lang automobiles.
In 1919, the Shubert-Jefferson Theatre in the Union Electric building hosted a post-war national caucus, in which the American Legion
American Legion
The American Legion is a mutual-aid organization of veterans of the United States armed forces chartered by the United States Congress. It was founded to benefit those veterans who served during a wartime period as defined by Congress...
was born.
In 1927 A tornado struck St. Louis, destroying over US$10 million worth of property, including Union Electric's electricity lines to the city.
By 1929 Union Electric Company became a subsidiary holding company of North American Company
North American Company
The North American Company was a holding company incorporated in New Jersey on June 14, 1890, and controlled by Henry Villard, to succeed to the assets and property of the Oregon and Transcontinental Company...
, (org chart) which had once been one of the original stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average
Dow Jones Industrial Average
The Dow Jones Industrial Average , also called the Industrial Average, the Dow Jones, the Dow 30, or simply the Dow, is a stock market index, and one of several indices created by Wall Street Journal editor and Dow Jones & Company co-founder Charles Dow...
. Union Electric subsidiaries at the time within the North American pyramid included Union Electric Light and Power (Missouri) and Union Electric Light and Power of Illinois.
In 1929 the Bagnell Dam
Bagnell Dam
Bagnell Dam impounds the Osage River in the U.S. state of Missouri, creating the Lake of the Ozarks. The 148-foot tall concrete gravity dam was built by the Union Electric Company for the purpose of hydroelectric power generation as its Osage Powerplant. It is long, including a long spillway...
was completed on the Osage River
Osage River
The Osage River is a tributary of the Missouri River in central Missouri in the United States. The Osage River is one of the larger rivers in Missouri. The river drains a mostly rural area of . The watershed includes an area of east-central Kansas and a large portion of west-central and central...
and generated almost 175 megawatts of hydroelectricity for Union Electric, along with creating the Lake of the Ozarks
Lake of the Ozarks
The Lake of the Ozarks is a large reservoir created by impounding the Osage River in the northern part of the Ozarks in central Missouri. Extents of three smaller tributaries to the Osage, the Niangua River, Grandglaize Creek, and Gravois Creek, are included in the impoundment...
with 1,400 miles of shoreline.
By 1940 Union Electric Company was one of three holding companies and also one of the ten major direct subsidiaries in the US$2.3 billion North American Company pyramid of by then 80 companies. At that time North American owned more than 79% of the Union Electric stock.
North American Company was broken up by the Securities and Exchange Commission, following the United States Supreme Court decision of April 1, 1946. Union Electric Company was then divested from North American. From then until the 1997 merger Union Electric Company traded publicly as an independent company on the New York Stock Exchange, under the ticker symbol UEP.
By the 1950s Union Electric owned gas operations in and around Alton, Illinois
Alton, Illinois
Alton is a city on the Mississippi River in Madison County, Illinois, United States, about north of St. Louis, Missouri. The population was 27,865 at the 2010 census. It is a part of the Metro-East region of the Greater St. Louis metropolitan area in Southern Illinois...
, and acquired other utilities to become the third largest distributor of natural gas in Missouri.
In 1952 Union Electric joined with its future Ameren mate, the Central Illinois Public Service Company; and also with another later Ameren subsidiary, the Illinois Power Company, to form the Midwest Power Pool system.
In 1963 Union Electric completed construction of one of the largest pumped storage plants at that time, the then-350-megawatt Taum Sauk Plant
Taum Sauk pumped storage plant
The Taum Sauk pumped storage plant is located in the St. Francois mountain region of the Missouri Ozarks approximately south of St. Louis near Lesterville, Missouri in Reynolds County. The pumped-storage hydroelectric plant, operated by the AmerenUE electric company, was designed to help...
, in Reynolds County, Missouri
Reynolds County, Missouri
Reynolds County is a county located in the northwestern portion of the Ozark Foothills Region in Southeast Missouri in the United States. As of the 2000 U.S. Census, the county's population was 6,689. A 2008 estimate, however, showed the population to be 6,388. Its county seat is Centerville...
. Years later, in December 2005 a large section of the Taum Sauk upper reservoir failed, draining over a billion gallons of water in less than half an hour.
In 1984 Union Electric added nuclear energy, when the Callaway Nuclear Generating Station
Callaway Nuclear Generating Station
The Callaway Plant is a nuclear power plant located on a 5,228-acre site in Callaway County, Missouri, near Fulton, Missouri. It began operating on December 19, 1984. The plant, which is the state's only commercial nuclear unit, has one 1,190-megawatt Westinghouse four-loop pressurized water...
began providing 1,143 megawatts of power from Callaway County, Missouri
Callaway County, Missouri
Callaway County is a county located in the U.S. state of Missouri. It is part of the Jefferson City, Missouri Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of 2010, the population was 44,332. Its county seat is Fulton. The county was organized in 1820. It was named for Capt. James Callaway, a grandson of...
.
In 1993 Union Electric battled a 500-year flood in the St. Louis metropolitan area from the swollen Missouri
Missouri River
The Missouri River flows through the central United States, and is a tributary of the Mississippi River. It is the longest river in North America and drains the third largest area, though only the thirteenth largest by discharge. The Missouri's watershed encompasses most of the American Great...
and Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
s. In 1994 Union Electric shared the industry's Edison Award with Midwest Power Systems, Inc., of Des Moines, Iowa
Des Moines, Iowa
Des Moines is the capital and the most populous city in the US state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small portion of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines which was shortened to "Des Moines" in 1857...
, for their work providing electric service to customers during the 1993 flood disaster.
In 1995 shareholders of both Union Electric Company and CIPSCO Inc. approved the merger of the two companies.
The merger was completed on December 31, 1997, when the two companies became one as Ameren Corporation. At the time of the merger, Union Electric had assets of nearly US$600 million, but still carried nearly US$1.8 billion in long-term debt, down from US$2.5 billion which it had accumulated by the 1980s.
The former Union Electric Company is now a subsidiary of the Ameren Corporation holding company, d/b/a AmerenUE. Ameren is now also a holding company
Holding company
A holding company is a company or firm that owns other companies' outstanding stock. It usually refers to a company which does not produce goods or services itself; rather, its purpose is to own shares of other companies. Holding companies allow the reduction of risk for the owners and can allow...
for several other power companies
Electric company
Electric company can mean:*Electrical power industry*Electric Company *The Electric Company *The Electric Company...
and energy companies as well.
The AmerenUE subsidiary continues to own Bagnell Dam. AmerenUE is responsible for managing water levels on the Lake of the Ozarks according to federal regulations; if levels are not appropriate, the lake must be closed until Ameren can solve the problem.
Today, with nine power plants AmerenUE serves 1.2 million power customers and 110,000 gas customers, primarily in Missouri, where more than half of its customers reside in the St. Louis metropolitan area. It also serves adjoining parts of Illinois, and formerly served Iowa as well through the mid-1990s.