A new rate adjustment request from Ameren Missouri would allow the investor-owned utility to recover its costs for investments in storm hardening, grid resiliency, and energy generation while offering customers several benefits.
The company on June 28 filed a request with the Missouri Public Service Commission (PSC) to adjust its electric base rates next summer. If approved by the PSC, the new rates would take effect in mid-2025 and would help Ameren Missouri recover the costs of electric system upgrades, as well as investments in cleaner electricity generation.
“The grid and generation upgrades we are making as part of Ameren Missouri’s Smart Energy Plan are improving customer reliability,” said Mark Birk, chairman and president of Ameren Missouri, a subsidiary of Ameren Corp. “We’ve experienced several severe storms across our service territory over the last year and a half, and the system has performed well.”
In fact, Ameren Missouri’s storm hardening and smart technology efforts have saved nearly 91,000 customer outages and 36 million outage minutes from January 2023 through the end of May 2024, Birk said.
“As a result of the investments we have made, our customers are seeing fewer outages with shorter durations, delivering up to a 40 percent improvement in reliability on circuits with innovative technology and associated grid upgrades,” added Warren Wood, vice president of regulatory and legislative affairs at Ameren Missouri. “These investments, combined with our new renewable energy centers, help ensure we have a reliable and resilient system to serve customers today and into the future.”
If regulators approve the rate change, the increased rates would cost an average residential electric customer using 1,011 kilowatt hours about $17 a month. Ameren Missouri says the rates would remain below the current averages if the request is approved, and noted that residential customer rates are now about 28 percent below Midwest and national averages, based on data from the Edison Electric Institute.
“We recognize the impact of electric rate adjustments and are working to keep rates as low as possible while maintaining high levels of reliability,” said Birk. “We also want our customers to know we’re here to help” and offer energy assistance grants that have expanded eligibility requirements, flexible payment options, efficiency programs, and energy management tools.
There are several other customer benefits reflected in Ameren Missouri’s rate request, according to the company.
For instance, investments in smart technology and grid strengthening through Ameren Missour’s Smart Energy Plan will ensure reliable energy for customers as the company replaces aging infrastructure with upgraded power lines and adds new substations with smart technology that can more rapidly detect and isolate damage to speed power restoration.
Additionally, the company will maintain a diverse generation portfolio of low-cost, on-demand energy to ensure customers’ rising energy demands are met, even as extreme weather threats increase.
Ameren is also installing three new solar energy centers, which are slated to be in service by the end of the year and can, together, produce enough energy to power roughly 93,000 homes annually, according to the company.
The company is also offering customers new on-peak/off-peak pricing options to help them control their costs based on when they use energy.
“We are committed to ensuring the system is reliable for all our customers while keeping costs as low as possible,” Wood said.
The Missouri PSC will review Ameren’s rate adjustment request over the next 11 months and is expected to issue a decision by May 2025. If approved, the new rates would be effective starting June 1, 2025.
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