Panel sets deadline for intervention in Ameren rate increase

The Missouri Public Service Commission has set April 28 as the deadline for parties wishing to intervene in the latest effort by AmerenUE to raise electrical rates.

On April 4, AmerenUE filed a request to increase electrical rates by 12.1 percent for all customers. The company cited rising utility costs, the expense of making the electric grid more reliable and the need for higher profits to attract investment capital as its main reasons for seeking the increase.

The April 28 deadline is for large users or groups of users to submit a notice that they want to participate formally in the case, said Kevin Kelly, spokesman for the PSC. Members of the public may comment on the rate increase request directly to the PSC staff, to the consumer advocates in the Office of Public Counsel or at public hearings that will be scheduled later in the year, Kelly said.

Ameren last filed for a rate increase in July 2006. That rate case, which sought bigger increases for businesses than for residential users, attracted intervention by more than a dozen groups, Kelly said. Those included the Missouri Energy Group and Missouri Industrial Energy Consumers, which both represented industrial electric customers such as Procter & Gamble and Buzzi Unicem, as well as the Missouri Retailers Association and some businesses, such as Noranda Aluminum.

After the deadline for intervention, the PSC will determine which to accept and set timetables for preparing testimony and arguments, Kelly said.

The commission has scheduled formal hearings on the evidence that will be presented by AmerenUE, intervenors, staff and the Office of Public Counsel for November in Jefferson City. The PSC has 11 months from the date Ameren requested the rate increase to determine whether to grant the request, order a cut in rates or allow a rate increase smaller than requested.

rkeller@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 126

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