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Foes mounting pressure against Ameren's bid for a rate increase
March 9, 2010, Decatur—Protestors fighting a proposed rate hike for the Ameren Corp. utilities in Illinois are piling on the pressure and are now looking for a knockout.
by Tony Reid, Decatur Herald & Review The forces of opposition gathered in Decatur on Monday to urge the public to step into the ring and drive home the message that the utilities - AmerenIP, AmerenCIPS and AmerenCILCO - don't need the $130 million increase they want in gas and electric delivery rates. Such an increase might add between $50 and $70 a year to the typical family's utility bill. Leading the fight to have state utility regulators deny the rate increase are the Citizens Utility Board public watchdog group, the office of Attorney General Lisa Madigan, the AARP and state Rep. Bob Flider, D-Mount Zion. The utilities say they have a strong case for raising rates and insist they must make a fair profit to keep their businesses viable and recoup investments in quality and reliability. But their push for more money, coming on the heels of a previous rate increase that saw their profits more than double, has already taken several hits. The utilities had originally asked for some $226 million but had scaled their request back to $130 million as opposition grew. Then an administrative law judge reviewing the rate requests for the Illinois Commerce Commission, the state utility regulators, recommended that it be cut back to $56 million. And the ICC's own staff, crunching the numbers earlier, had recommended the utilities only get $46 million. Flider, speaking at the Decatur-Macon County Senior Center on Monday and flanked by representatives of the utility board and AARP, said he would not only like the entire rate increase to be rejected, but to also see rates rolled back. He said the ICC has two new commissioners, including a new chairman, and there was the sense that the fight was going the customer's way. The commission is due to rule on the increase in April. "I think that, this time, this commission is very mindful of consumers," he added. Flider urged families to get involved and bombard the commission with complaints about what the rate hikes would mean for them. "This is not the time for Ameren to increase rates," he said. "There could not be a worse time to be increasing these rates." The Ameren utilities proposed hikes would add up to a profit of more than 10 percent, which Nancy Funk, a volunteer lobbyist with the AARP who lives in Decatur, claimed was unjustifiable. Speaking to a senior center audience of more than 60, Funk asked how much of a raise they had received in their latest Social Security checks. "The fact of the matter is you did not get an increase in your Social Security because it was said the cost of living had not gone up," she said. "So how about this number for Ameren's increase in rates: Zero." David Kolata, executive director of the Citizens Utility Board, told the crowd that public pressure would be heard and would make a difference. "I think we've proven that while Ameren may have the electricity, people ultimately have the power," he said. The utility board has set up a Web site, www.StopAmeren.com, which offers ways to contact the ICC. The ICC can also be contacted directly at 1-800-524-0795. treid@herald-review.com, 421-7977 |