ST. LOUIS (AP) – Ameren Missouri is proposing two voluntary programs that would require customers’ to support more solar power.

One program would ask residential customers to pay a bit more each month to finance a new solar plant. The second effort would look for commercial customers that would allow Ameren to install solar panels on rooftops and open spaces.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports regulators still must approve both programs.

Ameren isn’t planning any incentives to participants in the programs. But the utility is pledging to spend up to $13.5 million on the effort.

The three-year pilot programs are expected to generate only up to 6 megawatts of solar power. But Ameren officials say the proposals would help the utility learn best ways to incorporate small-scale solar power production.