AmerenUE offers to help customers pay bills

ST. LOUIS -- Customers having trouble paying their AmerenUE utility bills will have a chance for some relief, through a new, one-time program to settle their past due bills.

AmerenUE and the Missouri Public Service Commission planned to announce the $3 million program Wednesday at a news conference in St. Louis.

The utility company, part of St. Louis-based Ameren Corp., will use $3 million of a $110 million rate-reduction settlement approved last year by the Missouri Public Service Commission to finance the program.

The program -- called the Dollar More Clean Slate --will continue through May 31 or until the money is exhausted.

AmerenUE developed the program to help low-income families with a history of difficulty paying electric and natural gas, said Richard Mark, vice president of customer service.

Eligible customers with service that has not been terminated must pay 10 percent of the overdue bill for the clean slate program to pay off the balance.

Customers whose service has already been disconnected must pay 20 percent of their delinquent bill.

Customers in this program are also eligible for AmerenUE's budget-billing program, which lets customers pay a regular monthly amount to avoid peak utility payment charges.

The program will be administered by 40 social-service agencies in Missouri and is primarily aimed at households that meet federal poverty guidelines.

Kelvin L. Simmons, the state's Public Service Commission chairman, called the program a model for other utilities.

Dollar More Clean Slate doesn't replace the Dollar More program, which has helped individuals and families in need since 1982.

Ameren serves 1.7 million electric customers and 500,000 natural gas customers in Missouri and Illinois.

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