Ameren to use landfill for power

MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. -- Waste at a St. Louis County landfill will help generate enough electricity to power thousands of homes under a plan by the utility company AmerenUE.

Ameren officials on Thursday announced an agreement to install combustion turbines at Fred Weber Inc.'s landfill in northwest St. Louis County. The turbines will use methane gas from the decomposition of landfill waste to generate about 15 megawatts of electricity.

Ameren said that's enough to provide electricity for roughly 10,000 homes. The "Methane to Megawatts" operation is expected to be up and running by 2011. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

AmerenUE said the project will be the largest landfill gas-electric facility in Missouri and among the largest in the nation.