UE OFFERS SALE OF PART OF OPERATION

Union Electric Co., is offering to sell its Iowa retail-electric business in a 566-square-mile area it began serving in 1913.

A company spokesman, C.W. Mueller, said the company decided to contact other utilities after receiving unsolicited bids for the territory. The sale effort is preliminary, he said.

About 17,000 customers in the southeast corner of Iowa are served in the area involved.

UE, Missouri's largest electric utility, also serves parts of Southeast Missouri, including Cape Girardeau. It purchased the former Missouri Utilities Co., Jan. 1, 1984.