Ameren
Warner Baxter is the CEO of Ameren.
Warner Baxter, Ameren's CEO, is a visionary. Whenever the PUF team catches up with him, he consistently changes the subject to the central strategic challenges of his company and the industry overall. What the utility customer most needs is seemingly Warner's north star, as the following interview with him confirms.
Herein, we talk with the head of this St. Louis-based company about the game-changing May 13 order of the Federal Communications Commission, paving the way for utility private telecom networks. As usual, Warner focused the discussion on what's best for Ameren's customers in Illinois and Missouri.
PUF's Steve Mitnick: What are the goals that are motivating Ameren to innovate and establish a private LTE network?
Warner Baxter: What motivates us is really what motivates us every day — our customers. Our customers are at the center of our strategy. They're at the center of everything that we do.
One thing we know is that their energy needs and expectations are continuing to rise. We want to meet their energy needs and exceed their expectations.
As we look ahead, we see a grid of the future that is transforming. It's going to require, from our perspective, a highly secure, reliable, and scalable communications network — a platform to provide greater control, automation and monitoring of energy services to meet all these needs and expectations.