Edward Smith, edward.smith@sierraclub.org
St. Louis, MO -- A broad coalition of organizations are uniting to oppose Ameren Missouri’s proposed $299 million rate increase for its customers, thousands of whom continue to struggle during the COVID-19 pandemic as the monopoly electric utility’s stock price and shareholder dividends soar. Ameren Missouri’s request for a rate increase with the Missouri Public Service Commission (PSC), if approved, would add $12 per month for the average residential electric customer and $4 per month for the average gas customer. Ameren seeks this rate increase as it realized profits of over $200 million for the second quarter in a row, along with new dividends for its shareholders.
“As an organization that works to improve health outcomes for Black moms and babies, we recognize that access to energy is crucial to health,” said Lora Gulley, Director of Community Mobilization and Advocacy at Generate Health. “We are calling upon Ameren to respond to the needs of our community and refrain from raising rates while families are struggling to survive.”
Since January, Ameren Missouri has disconnected 25,980 customers for late payment while another 209,878 customers are currently behind on their bills, even as the COVID-19 Delta variant rages. Members of the public are able to comment on the proposed rate increase online and will be able to provide testimony at virtual public meetings hosted by the PSC October 5 - 8, 2021.
“Nine out of ten homeless veterans and their families come to us with utility debt, which is often insurmountable,” said Bill Wallace, President & CEO with Missouri Veterans Endeavor. “I am disappointed Ameren Missouri has not been more collaborative with local agencies responding to utility debt and homelessness and hope that will change.”
The disproportionate impact of the pandemic includes economic hardship, which has setback families for months while they are already struggling to pay for essential services like food, housing, and other basic needs. That is why civic, legal, faith, environmental, and justice organizations have come together to fight the proposed rate hike and secure bigger, better programs to provide relief to families, seniors, medically vulnerable individuals, and people just trying to survive.
“Utility disconnections are often cause for evictions, which is why we need Ameren Missouri’s CEO, Marty Lyons Jr., to use the power he has within the utility to keep people safe and in their homes by enacting a disconnection moratorium.” said Shuron Jones, Tenants Bill of Rights Organizer with Homes For All. “Ameren doesn’t need approval from anyone to make this a reality for struggling people right now.”
The coalition of organizations proposes a list of necessary changes Ameren Missouri must make to its plan to meet the needs of vulnerable communities as the pandemic continues to escalate. These demands include no bill increases for residential customers, no increase to the fixed monthly charge portion of customers’ bills, reinstatement of a disconnection moratorium, end to late fees and other penalties, better funded and better designed payment plans and programs to enable debt forgiveness in exchange for partial payment, better energy efficiency, weatherization, and renewable programs that reduce bills, and public reporting of energy burden data across Ameren Missouri’s service territory.
“Thousands of Missouri families are continuing to struggle as the country is still facing a global pandemic and national health and economic crisis,” said Sarah Owsley, Policy and Advocacy Director, Empower Missouri. “It is all of our responsibility, and especially that of the state’s monopoly utilities like Ameren, to put people first so that our communities can recover. Thousands of our neighbors have had their power shut off after losing their jobs through no fault of their own. Now is the time for utilities to show they are community partners by suspending disconnections and doing even more to help keep families in their homes. We need to put people first.”
Missouri Public Service Commission public hearing notice.
List of organizations in alphabetical order: Empower Missouri, Generate Health, Homes for All, Metropolitan Congregations United, Labadie Environmental Organization, LinkSTL, Missouri Chapter of the Sierra Club, Missouri Veterans Endeavor, National Housing Trust, Mutual Aid STL, Natural Resources Defense Council, New Northside Baptist Church, People’s Community Action Corporation, Potbangerz - Feed The Body Mission, Regional Response Team, Tower Grove Neighborhoods Community Development Corporation, and Trinity Episcopoal Church.
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The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3.5 million members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.