{"id":1745,"date":"2016-10-26T12:27:31","date_gmt":"2016-10-26T17:27:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/?page_id=1745"},"modified":"2016-12-01T16:51:45","modified_gmt":"2016-12-01T22:51:45","slug":"20160812_amerenratecut","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/20160812_amerenratecut\/","title":{"rendered":"CUB: Proposed Ameren Illinois Rate Cut Should Be Double"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wpb-content-wrapper\"><p>[vc_row][vc_column width=&#8221;5\/6&#8243;][vc_custom_heading text=&#8221;CUB: Proposed Ameren Illinois Rate Cut Should Be Double&#8221; font_container=&#8221;tag:h2|font_size:24|text_align:left&#8221; use_theme_fonts=&#8221;yes&#8221;][\/vc_column][vc_column width=&#8221;1\/6&#8243;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=&#8221;5\/6&#8243;][vc_column_text]<ul class=\"icon \"><li><i class=\"fa fa-caret-right\"><\/i> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/20160812_AmerenRateCut.pdf\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>PDF version<\/strong>\u00a0<strong>of this release<\/strong><\/a><\/li><\/ul>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<strong>Contact:<\/strong><br \/>\nJim Chilsen, <strong><a href=\"mailto:chilsen@citizensutilityboard.org\">chilsen@citizensutilityboard.org<\/a><\/strong>, <strong>(312) 513-1784<\/strong>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=&#8221;1\/6&#8243;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=&#8221;5\/6&#8243;][vc_column_text]<strong>CHICAGO, August 12, 2016<\/strong>\u2014 An electric rate cut that Ameren Illinois has proposed for 2017 should be doubled, to a decrease of about $30 million, according to expert testimony commissioned by the Citizens Utility Board (CUB) and an industrial customers\u00a0group.<\/p>\n<p>On Friday, CUB asked consumers to visit <strong><a class=\"bluebold\" href=\"https:\/\/citizensutilityboard.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">www.CitizensUtilityBoard.org<\/a><\/strong>, where they can send a message to the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC), the state\u2019s utility regulator, urging it to approve a larger\u00a0decrease.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We are glad that Ameren Illinois has proposed a rate cut for its customers, but our expert testimony shows that customers deserve double the decrease,&#8221; CUB Executive Director David Kolata said. &#8220;We\u2019re going to do everything we can to make sure customers get a fair rate\u00a0cut.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The ICC is considering Ameren\u2019s proposal to cut delivery rates by $14.4 million, a decrease that would take effect on Jan. 1, 2017. Delivery rates, which take up about a third to a half of Ameren electric bills, are determined annually by formula, under a state law to help pay for high-tech upgrades to the power grid. Ameren\u2019s proposed decrease means the revenue it is gaining has caught up with the cost of the\u00a0upgrades.<\/p>\n<p>CUB hopes the decrease is a sign that the upgrades are starting to benefit consumers. This summer, an expert analysis commissioned by the consumer group and a group called the Illinois Industrial Energy Consumers (IIEC), which represents large manufacturers, showed the rate cut should be even\u00a0larger.<\/p>\n<p>Michael Gorman, an expert from Brubaker &amp; Associates, Inc., a Missouri-based consulting firm that specializes in utility regulation, pinpointed inflated costs in Ameren Illinois\u2019 proposal and recommended an additional $15.5 million reduction\u2014for a total rate cut of about $29.9\u00a0million.<\/p>\n<p>Gorman explained that Ameren Corp., the parent company, uses an affiliated services company to perform the day-to-day administrative tasks for all companies under the Ameren umbrella. Ameren Illinois, the electric utility, shares these administrative costs with its sister companies, and requests that a certain portion of the costs be included in delivery\u00a0rates.<\/p>\n<p>However, Gorman argued that back in 2013, Ameren Corp. divested itself of a generation business, and that should have brought down administrative costs for Ameren Illinois. Instead, the costs went\u00a0up.<\/p>\n<p>Gorman also argued that the administrative costs were unreasonably high, and that the parent company should be shifting more of those costs from Ameren Illinois to a transmission\u00a0affiliate.<\/p>\n<p>Created by the Illinois Legislature, CUB opened its doors in 1984 to represent the interests of residential and small-business utility customers. Since then, the nonprofit utility watchdog group has saved consumers more than $20 billion by helping to block rate hikes and secure refunds. For more details, call CUB\u2019s Consumer Hotline, <strong>1-800-669-5556<\/strong>, or visit CUB\u2019s award-winning website, <strong>www.CitizensUtilityBoard.org<\/strong>..[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=&#8221;1\/6&#8243;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[vc_row][vc_column width=&#8221;5\/6&#8243;][vc_custom_heading text=&#8221;CUB: Proposed Ameren Illinois Rate Cut Should Be Double&#8221; font_container=&#8221;tag:h2|font_size:24|text_align:left&#8221; use_theme_fonts=&#8221;yes&#8221;][\/vc_column][vc_column width=&#8221;1\/6&#8243;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=&#8221;5\/6&#8243;][vc_column_text][\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Contact: Jim Chilsen, chilsen@citizensutilityboard.org, (312) 513-1784[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=&#8221;1\/6&#8243;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=&#8221;5\/6&#8243;][vc_column_text]CHICAGO, August 12, 2016\u2014 An electric rate cut that Ameren Illinois has proposed for 2017 should be doubled, to a decrease of about $30 million, according to expert testimony commissioned by the Citizens Utility Board (CUB) and an industrial customers\u00a0group. On Friday, CUB asked consumers to visit www.CitizensUtilityBoard.org, where they can send a message to the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC), the state\u2019s utility regulator, urging it to approve a larger\u00a0decrease. &#8220;We are glad that Ameren Illinois has proposed a rate cut for its customers, but our expert testimony shows that customers deserve double the decrease,&#8221; CUB Executive Director David Kolata said. &#8220;We\u2019re going to do everything we can to make sure customers get a fair rate\u00a0cut.&#8221; The ICC is considering Ameren\u2019s proposal to cut delivery rates by $14.4 million, a decrease that would take effect on Jan. 1, 2017. Delivery rates, which take up about a third to a half of Ameren electric bills, are determined annually by formula, under a state law to help pay for high-tech upgrades to the power grid. Ameren\u2019s proposed decrease means the revenue it is gaining has caught up with the cost of the\u00a0upgrades. CUB hopes the decrease is a sign that the upgrades are starting to benefit consumers. This summer, an expert analysis commissioned by the consumer group and a group called the Illinois Industrial Energy Consumers (IIEC), which represents large manufacturers, showed the rate cut should be even\u00a0larger. Michael Gorman, an expert from Brubaker &amp; Associates, Inc., a Missouri-based consulting firm that specializes in utility regulation, pinpointed inflated costs in Ameren Illinois\u2019 proposal and recommended an additional $15.5 million reduction\u2014for a total rate cut of about $29.9\u00a0million. Gorman explained that Ameren Corp., the parent company, uses an affiliated services company to perform the day-to-day administrative tasks for all companies under the Ameren umbrella. Ameren Illinois, the electric utility, shares these administrative costs with its sister companies, and requests that a certain portion of the costs be included in delivery\u00a0rates. However, Gorman argued that back in 2013, Ameren Corp. divested itself of a generation business, and that should have brought down administrative costs for Ameren Illinois. Instead, the costs went\u00a0up. Gorman also argued that the administrative costs were unreasonably high, and that the parent company should be shifting more of those costs from Ameren Illinois to a transmission\u00a0affiliate. Created by the Illinois Legislature, CUB opened its doors in 1984 to represent the interests of residential and small-business utility customers. Since then, the nonprofit utility watchdog group has saved consumers more than $20 billion by helping to block rate hikes and secure refunds. For more details, call CUB\u2019s Consumer Hotline, 1-800-669-5556, or visit CUB\u2019s award-winning website, www.CitizensUtilityBoard.org..[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=&#8221;1\/6&#8243;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1745","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1745","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1745"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1745\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}