Edward Smith, edward.smith@sierraclub.org
St. Louis, MO -- Organizations are uniting to oppose Ameren Missouri’s proposed $316 million rate increase for its customers. More than 200,000 customers continue to struggle during the uneven economic recovery from the pandemic as Ameren’s profits soar. Ameren’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, including a $3 increase to fixed fees. Ameren seeks this rate increase as its net income was $990 million in 2021.
“Families will fail to thrive if all they do is work to pay utility bills,” said Myisha Johnson, Environmental Justice Housing Organizer with Metropolitan Congregations United. “Marty Lyons should respond to the needs of our community by freezing electric rates and ending disconnections while families are struggling to survive.”
During the first nine months of 2022, Ameren Missouri disconnected 53,100 customers for late payment while another 228,412 customers were behind on their bills. The impact of disconnections is far greater than 53,100 because that number represents meters, not the total number of people in a household.
“I can’t force my landlord to fix the problems in my apartment that are causing my utility bills to skyrocket, nor do I have a choice of who I can buy electricity from,” said Troy Lee, Renter Leader with Homes for All St. Louis. “The societal status quo is designed to keep people like me from thriving, and Ameren is part of the problem, not a solution.”
Members of the public are able to provide testimony at public hearings hosted by the Missouri Public Service Commission virtually on February 2nd and 3rd or at in-person hearings in St. Charles and Florissant on February 9th.
"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 hope that Ameren Missouri can truly understand that utility insecurity is one of the primary contributors to homelessness, and that an increase of this nature will lead to placing a vast number of our Veterans and region's neighbors at risk. I hope that Ameren Missouri will come to the table with our region's homeless service providers to work together on reasonable, cogent, and solution-oriented plans for those families and communities who are underserved and in distress.”
Part of Ameren’s rate increase is to recoup its legal fees defending its Clean Air Act violations at the Rush Island coal plant. Additionally, Ameren’s Sioux coal plant hasn’t operated more than 50 percent since 2019, and Ameren admits the plant will be offline 17 to 25 percent for the remainder of its operating life.
“Ameren has a history of pretending everything is okay even when executives know the utility is violating the Clean Air Act at Rush Island or that water quality problems exist at coal ash facilities at all of its coal plants,” said Patricia Schuba, President of Labadie Environmental Organization.
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