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A proposal to raise electricity rates in Northeast Missouri has prompted a call for ideas about reducing the financial burden on struggling families.
The Missouri Public Service Commission is considering a $402 million Missouri rate increase proposed by AmerenUE. A separate $226 million rate hike request was filed with the Illinois Commerce Commission.
No action has been taken on either proposal, but Missouri regulators expect to make a decision by June.
The AmerenUE hike would be the largest in about two decades and would cost the average customer an estimated $180 more per year.
In the last six weeks, more than 2,000 people have told the Public Service Commission what they think of the proposal. Now, the panel wants additional testimony about setting up a customer classification for lower-income people.
Not-for-profit agencies that assist the needy already have an answer.
“The last thing we need is a rate increase for anybody, but especially those who are low-income or lost their jobs,” said Betty Whittaker of the North East Community Action Corporation, which covers 12 counties. “It’s going to really hurt. Low-income people are having enough trouble paying their bills now.”
Dave Dexheimer of Douglass Community Services in Hannibal, which provides assistance in eight counties, said many of the agency’s clients don’t believe their voices will be heard.
“We need to coordinate with our clients and hope that they know how to respond,” Dexheimer said. “Maybe we need to do more to organize our clients.”
AmerenUE said half of the increase is needed to cover higher expenses and the other half for system improvements that have already been made.
Spokesman Tim Fox said the utility is “sensitive” to the constraints faced by needy people, and has offered programs such as Dollar More, Clean Slate and energy gift certificates to help. He said the improvements were needed to meet customer needs.
“There is no good time for a rate increase, but we’re seeking to recover costs we’ve already incurred,” Fox said. “About half of it is investments we’ve made to improve the grid and half of it is fuel costs.”
The commission wants to discuss the feasibility of setting up an experimental “very low-income” customer class that would be based upon federal guidelines.
The panel wants testimony that will analyze the practicality, propose inclusion guidelines, outline verification procedures, analyze the possible effects and list an opinion on whether such a class should be tied to the current industrial rate or an alternate rate.
Comments can be filed as direct testimony by Feb. 19 or as rebuttal testimony no later than Feb. 26. Surrebuttal testimony is due by March 5.
People who want to voice an opinion should write to the commission at Governor Office Building, 200 Madison Street, P.O. Box 360, Jefferson City, Mo., 65102-0360. People may also call toll-free 1-800-392-4211 or log on to www.psc.mo.gov.
AmerenUE had gone 20 years without a rate increase before a two percent hike was approved in 2007. An eight percent rate increase followed in 2008. The utility’s most recent Illinois request has not been approved.
Ameren serves 2.4 million electric customers and one million natural gas customers in a 64,000-square-mile area of Missouri and Illinois.
Disclosure notice: Brent Engel is a former employee of North East Community Action Corporation, but no longer is paid by the organization.
A proposal to raise electricity rates in Northeast Missouri has prompted a call for ideas about reducing the financial burden on struggling families.
The Missouri Public Service Commission is considering a $402 million Missouri rate increase proposed by AmerenUE. A separate $226 million rate hike request was filed with the Illinois Commerce Commission.
No action has been taken on either proposal, but Missouri regulators expect to make a decision by June.
The AmerenUE hike would be the largest in about two decades and would cost the average customer an estimated $180 more per year.
In the last six weeks, more than 2,000 people have told the Public Service Commission what they think of the proposal. Now, the panel wants additional testimony about setting up a customer classification for lower-income people.
Not-for-profit agencies that assist the needy already have an answer.
“The last thing we need is a rate increase for anybody, but especially those who are low-income or lost their jobs,” said Betty Whittaker of the North East Community Action Corporation, which covers 12 counties. “It’s going to really hurt. Low-income people are having enough trouble paying their bills now.”
Dave Dexheimer of Douglass Community Services in Hannibal, which provides assistance in eight counties, said many of the agency’s clients don’t believe their voices will be heard.
“We need to coordinate with our clients and hope that they know how to respond,” Dexheimer said. “Maybe we need to do more to organize our clients.”
AmerenUE said half of the increase is needed to cover higher expenses and the other half for system improvements that have already been made.
Spokesman Tim Fox said the utility is “sensitive” to the constraints faced by needy people, and has offered programs such as Dollar More, Clean Slate and energy gift certificates to help. He said the improvements were needed to meet customer needs.
“There is no good time for a rate increase, but we’re seeking to recover costs we’ve already incurred,” Fox said. “About half of it is investments we’ve made to improve the grid and half of it is fuel costs.”
The commission wants to discuss the feasibility of setting up an experimental “very low-income” customer class that would be based upon federal guidelines.
The panel wants testimony that will analyze the practicality, propose inclusion guidelines, outline verification procedures, analyze the possible effects and list an opinion on whether such a class should be tied to the current industrial rate or an alternate rate.
Comments can be filed as direct testimony by Feb. 19 or as rebuttal testimony no later than Feb. 26. Surrebuttal testimony is due by March 5.
People who want to voice an opinion should write to the commission at Governor Office Building, 200 Madison Street, P.O. Box 360, Jefferson City, Mo., 65102-0360. People may also call toll-free 1-800-392-4211 or log on to www.psc.mo.gov.
AmerenUE had gone 20 years without a rate increase before a two percent hike was approved in 2007. An eight percent rate increase followed in 2008. The utility’s most recent Illinois request has not been approved.
Ameren serves 2.4 million electric customers and one million natural gas customers in a 64,000-square-mile area of Missouri and Illinois.
Disclosure notice: Brent Engel is a former employee of North East Community Action Corporation, but no longer is paid by the organization.
