In its Aug. 4 issue, Business Week magazine explores the topic of rising electricity prices, noting in a chart that Missouri is one of only two states whose electric rates have actually dropped over the past 8 years.
AmerenUE’s residential customers currently pay rates of 6.6 cents per kilowatthour, significantly below the national average. UE is the largest electric utility in the state, serving 57 of the state’s 114 counties.
The bar graph in the magazine uses data from the U.S. Energy Department to show the percent change in electricity prices since the year 2000. The data ranges from the state of Hawaii, which has seen prices rise by nearly 80 percent, down to Missouri, where electric rates dropped about 10 percent over the same period. The only other state that shows a drop is Iowa, but that decrease barely registers on the graph in comparison to Missouri’s bar.
Overall, the article notes that nationwide rates have risen 24 percent since the year 2000.
Business Week also covers the price pressures on utilities nationwide, from spikes in fuel prices to the need for upgraded infrastructure to keep up with customers’ rising demand for electricity.
“Americans now tend to own bigger houses and more electronic gizmos,” the Business Week article notes. “Some of the larger flat-screen TVs use three times the electricity of older models.”
“I think it’s helpful to have an article in a national publication that demonstrates Missourians are getting a real energy bargain,” says AmerenUE Senior Vice President for Missouri Energy Delivery Richard Mark. “At the same time, the article does a good job of showing that our industry is under very real, very significant cost pressures.”
The full article is on the Web at: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_31/b4094022627889.htm?chan=magazine+channel_top+stories.
AmerenUE is a subsidiary of St. Louis-based Ameren Corporation. Ameren companies serve 2.4 million electric customers and one million natural gas customers in a 64,000-square-mile area of Missouri and Illinois.
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CONTACT: Tim Fox, 314.554.3120, or Susan Gallagher, 314.554.2175, both of AmerenUE