Ameren to raise rates next month
September 25, 2008
Jamie Busen
A rate increase that
will go into effect Oct. 1 will cause a typical AmerenCIPS
residential customer’s electric bill to rise by about $2 to $5 a month, while
electric heat customers would see their bill rise by $2 to $7 monthly,
according to information from the Illinois Commerce Commission.
The ICC approved a $162
million rate increase for gas and electric customers Wednesday after rejecting
the utility company’s original request for an increase of $247 million.
An AmerenCIPS
residential natural gas customer can expect to see natural gas delivery charges
decrease by up to $3 monthly during the winter months and increase by up to $6
in the nonwintermonths.
The Citizens Utility
Board said after the ICC’s action Wednesday that it
will appeal the ruling. CUB had previously stated that the largest rate
increase the company could justify was $58 million.
“Ameren overstated its
expenses to justify an exorbitant rate hike it doesn’t need or deserve, and
that’s why we plan to appeal,” CUB Executive Director David Kolata
said in a news release.
Ameren says the
increase will fund infrastructure improvements throughout its service area in
central and southern
Ameren’s three
AmerenCIPS is the major utility provider
in
A 10-year electric rate
freeze ended Jan. 2, 2007, and AmerenCIPS customers
saw about a 40 percent average increase afterward.
Ameren will have a tool
in place by Oct. 1 that will allow customers to find out, either online or by
phone, exactly how much of an impact the new delivery rates will have on their
bills, spokesperson Leigh Morris said.
ICC spokesperson Beth Bosch
said that for the typical residential customer, the delivery service charges
represent 30 percent of a monthly bill.
The Ameren rate
increases apply only to delivery charges, not the actual cost of electricity and
natural gas.
“This is a time of a struggling
economy. ... There are soaring energy costs, and we are approaching a costly
winter. This is horrible timing to do this,” CUB spokesperson Jim Chilsen said.
ON THE NET
• CUB:
www.citizensutilityboard.org
• AMEREN:
www.ameren.com
•