Ameren Illinois Natural Gas Storage System Delivers Reliable Performance During Extreme Cold

Smart hedging strategies led to $28.5 million in customer savings from on-system storage usage

COLLINSVILLE, Ill. (Jan. 28, 2026) - Winter returned with a familiar punch this week as an arctic blast gripped the Ameren Illinois service territory for the second January in a row. During the stretch of extreme cold, the company's 12 natural gas storage fields operated at full availability, shielding customers from market price volatility and ensuring gas was there to heat homes and power businesses across central and southern Illinois.

During the coldest period (Saturday, Jan. 24, through Monday, Jan. 26), system demand consistently exceeded 1 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of natural gas per day. The gas day ending Saturday morning recorded demand from Ameren Illinois customers of approximately 1.27 Bcf, ranking among the company's top 15 highest single-day demands ever.

The Ameren Illinois gas system normally delivers about half a billion cubic feet of natural gas on a winter day, and the highest single-day record is nearly 1.4 billion cubic feet. Even during the recent extreme cold and snow, the Ameren storage fields met all gas needs without any problems.

"Our underground natural gas storage system worked as designed throughout the weekend," said Brad Kloeppel, senior director of Natural Gas Operations and Technical Services for Ameren Illinois. "We experienced no system issues, no equipment concerns, and no gas availability limitations for our customers. We are confident that we have an ample supply of gas to meet customer needs as the arctic cold continues through the week."

Storage Helped Protect Customers from Extreme Market Prices

Ameren Illinois purchases gas in the summer, when prices are generally low, to inject into underground storage and layers in gas purchases needed for winter up to five years in advance. Because of the Ameren Illinois gas hedging portfolio - including on-system storage, leased pipeline storage and financial hedging - the company was able to greatly reduce the amount of gas purchased at spot market prices as demand increased last weekend.

For the weekend, Ameren Illinois estimates its storage portfolio contributed approximately:

• $28.5 million in customer savings from on-system storage use
• $46 million in total savings when including leased storage and advanced hedging

"We strategically use our storage assets during extreme conditions and then look for the most cost-effective opportunities to refill them," Kloeppel said. "This approach keeps customer costs stable while maintaining strong reliability."

"Our employees, especially those working in the field during the cold weather, accomplished the mission of providing safe, reliable and affordable natural gas to our customers on the coldest hour of the coldest day, when they needed it the most," said Patrick Smith Sr., president of Ameren Illinois.

About Ameren Illinois
Ameren Illinois delivers energy to 1.2 million electric and more than 800,000 natural gas customers throughout central and southern Illinois. Our service territory covers more than 1,200 communities and 43,700 square miles and our mission is to power the quality of life. For more information, visit AmerenIllinois.com. Follow us at @AmerenIllinois or Facebook.com/AmerenIllinois.