Company: AILIM
Filing Date: 2025-02-18
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0001002910-25-000055
Chunk: 220

Company: Ameren Illinois Co
Filing Date: 2025-02-18
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 1A
Chunk 220
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Related to benefits, Ameren has defined benefit pension plans covering substantially all of its employees and has postretirement benefit plans covering non-union employees hired before October 2015 and union employees hired before January 2020. Assumptions related to future costs, returns on investments, interest rates, timing of employee retirements, and mortality, as well as other actuarial matters, have a significant impact on our customers’ rates and our plan funding requirements. Ameren’s total pension and postretirement benefit plans were overfunded by $734 million as of December 31, 2024. Ameren expects to fund its pension plans at a level equal to the greater of the pension cost or the legally required minimum contribution. Based on its assumptions at December 31, 2024, its investment performance in 2024, and its pension funding policy, Ameren does not expect to make material contributions in 2025 and expects to make aggregate contributions of $170 million in 2026 through 2029. Ameren Missouri and Ameren Illinois estimate that their portion of the future funding requirements will be 40% and 50%, respectively. These estimated contributions may change based on actual investment performance, changes in interest rates, changes in our assumptions, changes in government regulations, and any voluntary contributions. In addition to the costs of our pension plans, the costs of providing health care benefits to our employees and retirees have increased in recent years. We believe that our employee benefit costs, including costs of health care plans for our employees and former employees, will continue to rise. Future legislative changes related to health care could also significantly change our benefit programs and costs.

GENERAL RISKS

Customers’, investors’, legislators’, regulators’, creditors’, and rating agencies’ opinions of us are affected by many factors, including system safety and reliability, implementation of our strategic plan, protection of customer information, rates, media coverage, and company policies or practices, as well as actions by other utility companies. Negative opinions developed by customers, investors, legislators, regulators, creditors, and rating agencies could harm our reputation.

Our results are influenced by the expectations of our customers, investors, legislators, regulators, creditors and ratings agencies. Those expectations are based, in part, on the reliability and affordability of our utility services. Service interruptions and facility shutdowns can occur due to failures of equipment as a result of severe or destructive weather or other causes. The ability of Ameren Missouri and Ameren Illinois to prevent, mitigate, or respond promptly to such failures can