Most of AmerenUE’s 125,000 Missouri natural gas customers will receive a special one-time bill credit as part of the transition to a single Purchased Gas Adjustment (PGA) for customers in all four of its Missouri gas regions. The credit, identified as “Special Gas Credit,” will appear on AmerenUE bills dated Nov. 5 through Dec. 5, 2007.
The Missouri Public Service Commission (PSC) approved the transition to a single PGA as part of its decision on AmerenUE’s natural gas rate case in March 2007. This action is intended to benefit customers by establishing a PGA that is more stable and less susceptible to market volatility and price spikes.
The PGA reflects the wholesale cost of natural gas from the company’s suppliers, plus the cost of transporting that gas to the AmerenUE system. AmerenUE passes these supplier costs on to customers, dollar for dollar, through the PGA without any “markup” in price.
Since the wholesale costs change daily—while the PGA does not—the PGA also includes an adjustment to compensate for any under- or over-collection of actual costs in previous periods. In the past, this balance was refunded, or collected, over a 12-month period. With the transition to a single PGA, AmerenUE was required by the PSC to eliminate these balances. Therefore, most customers will receive a special one-time credit to bring these balances to zero.
In addition to the one-time special credit, most customers’ bills will also include a small monthly transition credit or surcharge to account for minor differences in supplier costs among the four regions.
For customers receiving postcard bills, the transition credit or surcharge will be included in the Gas Service Charge appearing on the bill, and not listed as a separate item. However, the amount will be identified in a message elsewhere on the bill.
Customers will receive a bill insert or letter explaining the changes, except for those whose accounts will not be affected.
With the transition to a single PGA for all regions, AmerenUE has also filed a request with the PSC for a new PGA to reflect changes in gas costs from the company’s suppliers since the current PGA became effective Nov. 1, 2006. Upon PSC review and approval, the new PGA would become effective Nov. 1, 2007.
For residential customers, the impact of the new PGA during the winter heating season would range from a decrease of about $6.40 per month to an increase of about $2.55 per month compared to last winter, depending on the region where that customer is located. The impact differs due to differences in supplier and transportation costs among the four regions that were reflected in the PGA prior to the transition to a single PGA for all areas.
AmerenUE is a subsidiary of St. Louis-based Ameren Corporation. The Ameren companies serve 2.4 million electric customers and nearly one million natural gas customers in a 64,000-square-mile area of Missouri and Illinois.
# # #
SOURCE: AmerenUE
CONTACT: Mike Cleary of AmerenUE, +1-573-681-7137, mcleary@ameren.com