Peoria Standard

Illinoisans are starting to decry Ameren Illinois' rate increases.

Peoria resident Brett Ragon says enough is enough and it's time to push back. He suggested that people should contact their representatives and email the Illinois Commerce Commission.

“Ameren Illinois is lobbying the Illinois Commerce Commission for another rate hike,” Ragon said on Facebook. “Well it's time we stand up and say no. In their quarterly [filing] to the SEC, they posted a $453 million profit. That equates to $4,978,021 in profit per day. Now I'm all for business and less government intrusion but power and utilities have a monopoly so yeah, we need something done here. Our bills have quadrupled in a year. I'm spending $1500 a month on power between 3 places and it sucks. We need to stop this. I understand the government regulations from our dumb governor and president are killing power generation but I think the power companies may be taking advantage of that. 5 mil a day in profit while we are all going bankrupt slowly is ridiculous!” 

Current rate increases have led the Citizen’s Utility Board to note this winter could be the costliest in history for Ameren customers. The typical Ameren Illinois residential customer has seen a $626 annual increase in their power bill. 

“Higher energy prices (electricity and natural gas) will continue to impact monthly utility bills into the winter heating season. The causes are varied but include a tight supply/demand balance, record low coal inventories and high coal prices driving increased natural gas power generation, and a rise in U.S. natural gas consumption compared to 2021,” Ameran said in June 2022 when prices started rising. “We know this is frustrating for our customers; it's frustrating for us at Ameren Illinois, too. Many people are facing challenging times, and no one wants to see higher energy bills.”

Ameren has filed paperwork to push power bills even higher, which saw immediate pushback from the CUB. “In one month, Ameren Illinois has filed for a $160.4 million gas rate hike and a four-year $435.6 million electric increase, and they couldn’t have come at a worse time,” CUB Executive Director David Kolata said in a press release. "This is awful news for Ameren customers who already were suffering under some of the highest electric and gas supply prices in Illinois history as well as earlier Ameren rate hikes. CUB will do a thorough review of these rate cases, and we will challenge every penny Ameren can't justify." 

Downstate legislators gathered earlier this week to address the issue of Ameren rates hikes. State Sen. Chapin Rose (R-Mahomet) Rose said the situation in downstate Illinois is dire. “Last week in Kincaid, Illinois, an entire grocery store went out of business because they couldn't pay the power bill for their coolers,” Rose said in a press conference, according to Chambana Sun. “That community is without a grocery store and I think Rep. (Dave) Severin, when he talks, he's got the exact same thing happen in his district, a different place. So this is a significant crisis. It is a serious crisis. Families cannot afford what is happening to them.”

Former gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey blames the high energy rates on the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act, which passed in 2021. The act seeks to off-line all fossil fuel plants in favor of renewable energy.

“JB Pritzker’s energy policies are a little more than impractical virtue signals and cannot succeed with the speed of his promises,” Bailey said at an agriculture forum in 2022, Capitol News Illinois reported. “We all want a clear plan, but JB has bet the farm, he’s bet our farms, and he’s thrown snake eyes every time.”