Jul. 24--PEORIA -- More than half of the generation technical services employees at Ameren Corp.'s Edwards Power Station will lose their jobs as part of a staff reduction through Ameren Energy Resources.

The company said 12 of the 22 employees at the Edwards power station will be out of work by the end of next March unless other positions are found for them by then.

Ameren Energy Resources, the holding company for merchant generation and energy marketing services for Ameren Corp., said in a news release that the layoffs are "in response to rising environmental compliance costs and tough economic and power market conditions. "

Altogether AER will cut 55 positions, which will eliminate 42 employees at various Illinois locations after open positions are taken into account.

The employees are within AER's Generation Technical Services group, which includes employees at Peoria's Resource Center at the Edwards plant, in Collinsville and the Effingham Resource Center, in Effingham.

Ameren spokeswoman Susan Gallagher said most of the affected employees will leave the company in early September, with the remainder leaving by the end of March 2010.

If more people retire or leave jobs that need to be filled in the meantime, it is possible some could be transferred within the company, she said.

Those affected provide support for AER generating plants and include clerical, administrative, training, document control and engineering professionals.

The company is offering severance benefits, including outplacement and career transition services, such as job fairs, meetings with recruiters and other career-related programs and resources.

AER also announced that by year-end 2009, it will vacate 32,000 square feet of office space at the Collinsville Resource Center, where AER has housed staff members since 2008.

Paul Gordon can be reached at 686-3288 or pgordon@pjstar.com.

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