CHICAGO, Dec. 20, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The following is a statement by CUB Executive Director Sarah Moskowitz on the Thursday, Dec. 19 Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) ruling granting Ameren Illinois a $309 million rate hike.

While we are concerned how any rate hike will impact consumers, it's a step in the right direction that the ICC has cut Ameren's wasteful spending by hundreds of millions of dollars, denied the company's unfair request for a higher profit rate for shareholders and reduced its proposed rate hike. In the face of foot-dragging by Ameren, this ICC has shown concern for affordability and reducing reckless utility spending. Of course, an increase of any kind will be difficult to bear for far too many customers who have been hit with multiple rate hikes from Ameren over the last decade. We still have a lot of work to do to secure a clean, affordable energy future for Ameren customers. Under the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA), Ameren is required to make investments that are beneficial and affordable for customers. CUB is committed to working with electric customers, regulators, legislators and other consumer advocates to hold Ameren accountable to that standard in the years to come.

Background:

• On Dec. 19, 2024, the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) approved a grid-maintenance and improvement plan for Ameren Illinois and a multi-year $309 million rate hike–about 7 percent lower than what the company wanted.. The rate hike, which will be spread out over multiple years through 2027, is meant to cover the costs to maintain and improve the grid, plus a profit for Ameren.
  
• The ICC's final ruling on Thursday reduced Ameren's proposed $333 million in spending by about 75 percent, according to the ICC. It approved an 8.715 percent return on equity, or profit rate for shareholders, for Ameren. The company had proposed an ROE of 9.27 percent.
  
• Thursday's ruling came about a year after the ICC had rejected the utility's first proposed grid plan and most of its proposed multi-year rate hike. At the time, the ICC ruled that, among other things, Ameren had failed to prove that the plan was affordable for consumers.
  
• In March of 2024, Ameren refiled its grid plan as well as a multi-year plan for raising rates (Docket 24-0238). After some adjustments over the course of the case, Ameren proposed to raise rates by $334 million through 2027.
  
• In August, CUB identified hundreds of millions of dollars in wasteful or improper spending proposed by Ameren, with a portion to be recovered through the current rate-hike request, and the rest recovered over decades to come.
  
• Ameren Illinois' increase impacts delivery rates, which take up about a third to a half of electric bills. It's what a utility charges customers to cover the costs of delivering electricity to homes— plus a profit.
  
• The rate hike will take effect within the next few weeks. CUB does not yet have details on how this will impact individual bills.
  
• Ameren Illinois serves about 1.2 million electric customers in Central and Southern Illinois. Ameren Illinois' parent company has made $975 million in profits over the first 9 months of 2024.

The Citizens Utility Board (CUB) is celebrating its 40th anniversary as Illinois' leading nonprofit utility watchdog group. Created by the Illinois Legislature, CUB opened its doors in 1984 to represent the interests of residential and small-business utility customers. Since then, CUB has saved consumers more than $20 billion by helping to block rate hikes and secure refunds. For more information, call CUB's Consumer Hotline at 1-800-669-5556 or visit CitizensUtilityBoard.org.

SOURCE Citizens Utility Board