A few weeks ago, the City of St. Louis issued a proposal that would require new data center developments to use renewable energy for their operations, among many other requirements. There is now a conditional waiver process to sidestep the renewable requirement if the developer can prove they and Ameren can’t meet it, which is a slight improvement.
From a free-market perspective, the flaws of the proposal are clear. The city would be selecting certain types of energy (in this case solar and wind) in the name of “clean air” while excluding from consideration not only energy from coal and natural gas, but even nuclear energy, which also has zero emissions. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that officials said the goal was to push Ameren to build more solar and wind power.
In February of this year I wrote about my concerns with Missouri’s renewable portfolio standard, which also excludes nuclear energy. The same concerns apply to the city’s proposed renewable requirement, which should be rejected.
