Ameren Illinois is doing their part to lower electricity rates throughout the state.
Ameren Illinois put out a release yesterday to announce residential customers will pay less for electric delivery service next year under a plan filed with the Illinois Commerce Commission. Approval of the $7.22 million decrease would lower monthly electric delivery bills for the typical residential customer by approximately $1.13 per month.
The filing is the sixth decrease in Ameren Illinois electric delivery rates since the state’s Energy Infrastructure Modernization Act (EIMA) passed in 2011. Under the EIMA, Ameren Illinois customers have saved an estimated $45 million each year through avoided outages and increased service reliability.
Since 2012, Ameren Illinois has installed thousands of storm-resistant utility poles and power lines. These improved power poles and lines work along with advanced technology that detects service disruptions and immediately reroutes power from alternative sources.
These investments have contributed to a 20 percent overall increase in reliability.
An economic impact report commissioned by Ameren Illinois said grid modernization under EIMA has generated nearly $1.7 billion in direct and indirect economic output, including $31.6 million in state tax revenues. Ameren Illinois has added 1,400 employee and contractor jobs in that time period.
Delivery rates are determined based on the utility’s current-year costs and actual costs compared to the forecast from the previous year. Coupled with expected lower supply costs, overall customer monthly electric bills are expected to be lower in 2020 than in 2012 and remain below the 2018 national average.