As part of its annual “Be Cool” Air Conditioner Program, AmerenUE today will donate 200 window unit air conditioners to the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis and Urban League of St. Louis County! The air conditioners are all Energy Star®-listed units that meet the strict energy efficiency guidelines set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy.
Other agencies benefiting this year through the annual Be Cool program include Sts. Joachim and Ann Care Service of St. Charles County (35 units); the Jefferson County Health Department (40 units); and the Samaritan Center (25 units).
The Urban League’s 200 air conditioners will be evenly divided between recipients in St. Louis City and St. Louis County. UE employee volunteers will deliver the air conditioners to the agencies.
Eligible recipients, who have already been selected, are UE low income and low income elderly customers. Participating agencies used poverty guidelines and other circumstances to qualify air conditioner recipients.
As part of the “Be Cool” program, each air conditioner recipient will also receive a hot weather survival kit, which includes a tote bag, a refrigerator magnet with UE’s number on it, a water bottle, an ink pen, a pad of paper, a nightlight, a flashlight and a “conservation wheel” that contains tips on how to cut energy costs. The kit also includes the St. Louis Area Energy-Assistance Guide and brochures about UE’s payment options, online Energy Savings Toolkit, having a more energy-efficient home and a fold-out poster showing where customers can save energy—and money.
“Through the ‘Be Cool’ program, UE and its partners are able to provide free air conditioning units for qualifying elderly and low income residential customers. This is essential to keeping these customers safe during the hot summer months,” said Richard Mark, AmerenUE senior vice president, Missouri Energy Delivery. “Just as important, however, is encouraging people to turn on those air conditioners. On average, it costs less than $1.00 a day to run a window-unit air conditioner during the summer. Yet every year, people become needlessly sick or even die because of hot weather – even people who have air conditioners.”
With residential electric retail rates that are nearly 40 percent below the national average, UE provides electricity and natural gas to 1.2 million customers in Missouri. With $21 billion in assets, Ameren Corporation, through its affiliates, serves 2.4 million electric and nearly 1 million natural gas customers across 64,000 square miles of Illinois and Missouri.
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CONTACT: Tim Fox, 314.554.3120, or Lori Light, 314.554.2681, both of AmerenUE