Ameren Energy started its electric and gas trading business offon the right foot this summer, getting into the market just in timeto make a small killing when electric prices spiked in the Midwestduring the last week in June. The company started out with just afraction of the personnel it expects to have on board by the end ofthe year.

“We expected to make $1,000 in July. Instead we made $10,000,”said Ameren Energy President Shannon Burchett. The company hadopened its brand new 23,000 square-foot St. Louis trading floorJune 3, just three weeks before the infamous June 25 electricmarket. “We had the good fortune to be selling into that market. Wewere dealt a good hand. We’ve got highly reliable assets thatoperate at low cost.” Burchett would reveal only that the companyhad sold some power in the “multiple thousands” per MWh, during atime when some utilities and marketers were paying as much as$7,000 per MWh.

Ameren Energy is the unregulated trading arm of the newly mergedAmeren Corp., which is now the parent of AmerenUE, the former UnionElectric of St. Louis and AmerenCIPS, formerly know as CentralIllinois Public Service. The merger was completed Jan. 1, 1998 andBurchett was made president of the new independent marketing armwithin days. “The idea is to optimize our assets,” he said, puttingAmeren’s low cost power on the market to maximize revenues. But theJune 25 spike “was an aberration. It’s something we’re not going tosee with any frequency although the likelihood is the volatility ofthe electric market is going to remain extremely high. I expect tosee 100% to 150% volatility on an annualized basis.

Meanwhile, Burchett now has a staff of 75 and a target of 100 bythe end of the year. “Our business is about 80% electric and 20%gas. We’d like to have revenues from the two about equal,” Burchettsaid, indicating it would mean some focus on the gas side. He saidhe is looking for merger and acquisition specialist personnel rightnow, among others.

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