Customers May Voice Opposition at Upcoming Hearings KCP&L customers face a whopping 177 percent rate increase in their monthly customer charge if the electric utility gets its way before the Missouri Public Service Commission. In the rate case, which starts with public hearings on Tuesday, April 21, the utility wants to increase the charge to $25 per month from $9 per month. The company is asking also for a 15.8 percent increase in the usage rate. Raising the usage rate f ...
Category: Utilities
Ameren Wants to Raise Your Rates Again!
Take the Opportunity to Tell Regulators How Higher Electric Bills Would Affect Your Budget Ameren Missouri wants to increase the rates customers pay by nearly 10 percent (9.65 percent) in order to raise its income by $265 million a year. Since 2008 Ameren customers have suffered under rate increases of more than 43 percent. The company also wants to raise the profit it can earn to 10.4 percent from the current 9.8 percent. Consumer advocates want to lower that percentage to 9 ...
Nixon Appoints Ex-Chiefs QB to PSC
St. Louis Beacon, January 9, 2013 Gov. Jay Nixon has appointed Bill Kenney to the Missouri Public Service Commission, a move that could end a temporary logjam for the powerful entity that regulates the state's utilities. Kenney is a former Republican state senator from the Kansas City area who most recently served as Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder’s chief of staff. He is perhaps best known for his tenure as a quarterback for the Kansas City Chiefs. “As a former two-term s ...
Coalition Disputes PSC Ameren Ruling
Jefferson City News Tribune, October 6, 2014 The Fair Energy Rate Action Fund, or FERAF, thinks the Missouri Public Service Commission got it wrong last week. With a unanimous vote, the five-member commission on Wednesday said that Noranda Aluminum had not made its case that Ameren had taken in more money than its current rates allowed, making those rates “unjust and unreasonable.” “Ameren’s own quarterly reports show it has earned excessive profits for the past 33 months, ...
PSC Lands Double Blow on Consumers in 2 Electric Rate Cases, Sides with Ameren
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 1, 2014 In dual victories for Ameren Missouri, Missouri regulators dismissed on Wednesday an overearnings complaint against the utility and a request from Noranda Aluminum to reconsider its case for a lower electric rate. The Missouri Public Service Commission’s order denied the southeast Missouri smelter’s rehearing request in a case that began in February. The smelter initially sought a rate that would lower its $170 million annual power bil ...
Editorial: Split the Utility Baby in Noranda-Ameren Dispute Over Rates
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 5, 2014 If you rely on Ameren Missouri for electricity, as most people in the region west of the Mississippi do, here is what you need to know about the utility monopoly’s months-long rate battle with its largest customer: One way or another, you are going to pay more. In March, Noranda Aluminum, which operates a huge smelter in New Madrid in southeast Missouri, said it needed lower rates to stay competitive in a depressed aluminum market. M ...
Ameren Seeks More from Consumers Through Monthly Fuel Charge Hike
Associate Press, July 29, 2014 JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. • Ameren Missouri is seeking approval to add about $1.50 to customers' monthly electric bills. The Missouri Public Service Commission says Ameren wants to adjust the monthly fee that compensates the utility for changes in fuel costs at its power plants among other things. The PSC says the proposal would increase the fee on an average residential customer's electric bill to $5.17 from the current $3.63 a month. It ...
Consumers Fight for Fairness in Overearning Case Against Ameren
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 27, 2014 When it comes to electric rate fights, Ameren Missouri is undefeated over the last decade. Rate increases: 5. Rate decreases: 0. On Monday, consumer groups will take another go at the St. Louis-based electric utility. The Missouri Public Service Commission carved out the whole week to take testimony and evidence in the case, which accuses Ameren Missouri of earning more profit than regulators allow. Not only that, they will argue t ...
Regulators Weigh Ban on Payday Lenders Collecting Bills for Utility Companies
Kansas City Star, July 18, 2014 Many utilities allow payday lenders to collect utility bill payments from customers, but Missouri regulators are considering whether to stop the practice. The dispute has simmered for years. Critics say it’s ridiculous to collect utility payments at places they say provide loans at sky-high rates and target cash-strapped consumers. Customers pay off their utility bills but may find it too convenient to take out a loan to do so. Utilities def ...
Ameren Seeks $264M From Consumers Despite Strong Earnings Performance
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 4, 2014 Ameren Missouri filed a request Thursday to raise electric rates by nearly 10 percent, the sixth time since 2006 the state’s largest utility has sought a general rate increase. The St. Louis-based utility is seeking permission from its regulator, the Missouri Public Service Commission, to increase rates by $264 million. If the PSC grants Ameren the full request, the typical household would pay about $10 more a month in utility bills. The ...
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