Why Missouri?
Missouri offers low cost utilities, a low cost of doing business and high quality of life. Furthermore, Missouri's large tracts of windy land and fertile soil, located adjacent to dense, energy-consuming urban centers, put Missouri in a prime position to become a national leader in renewable energy. Missouri has the vision, the resources, the infrastructure and the people to supply its own renewable energy needs and to serve as an important resource to the rest of the country. With its large, highly-educated workforce, strategic location, low business costs and clean energy initiative, Missouri is perfectly positioned to take advantage of advances in alternative energy in the wind, solar, and biofuel sectors.
- Missouri’s Clean Energy Initiative requires that utility companies increase usage of renewable energy to 15% by 2021. The standard also requires that .3% of retail electricity sales must come from solar electricity. Missouri is one of only 14 states with a provision for solar electricity.
- Missouri’s solar resources, between 4.5 and 5.0 kilowatt-hours per square meter per day, exceed that of Germany, which leads the world in solar energy production and averages under 3 kilowatt-hours per square meter per day (National Renewable Energy Laboratory).
- Missouri has six ethanol plants in operation with a combined capacity of approximately 278 million gallons per year.
- Missouri has eleven biodiesel plants in operation or planned with a combined capacity of approximately 154 million gallons per year.
- Missouri has the 13th highest average U.S. wind speed, higher than Wyoming, Illinois, New Mexico, Colorado, Ohio and California (State Rankings 2012).
Missouri is also home to many successful companies involved in energy generation, such as Ameren Corporation, Associated Electric Cooperative, Inc., Empire District Electric Co., and Kansas City Power & Light.
Get more details on The Missouri Advantage by visiting the pages listed below: