AmerenUE is extending for another year a program that provides rebates to residential electric customers on the purchase and installation of certain transfer switch systems for backup electric generators. These systems are designed by their manufacturers to help ensure safety in connecting an emergency backup generator to a home’s electrical wiring.
The program, called Safe Connect, provides a rebate of 50 percent of the cost—up to a maximum rebate of $500—for the purchase and installation of qualified safe connection systems. The program originally applied to systems purchased between Nov. 2, 2007 and July 31, 2009. With the extension, systems must now be purchased by July 31, 2010 and installed by Aug. 31, 2010. Rebate applications must be postmarked by Sept. 15, 2010.
Richard Mark, UE senior vice president, Missouri Energy Delivery, says Safe Connect is a service to customers to help ensure safety.
“A generator safe connection system prevents electricity from back feeding into UE’s power lines while the generator is powering a home,” Mark says. “Back feeding—which means electric power is flowing in the opposite direction from its usual flow—can be extremely dangerous because it presents risks to neighbors served by the same utility line, and it presents a risk of electrocution to utility workers. If a lineman is working to restore power to utility lines that are believed to be dead, and the lines are actually energized due to a back feed of electricity from an improperly connected generator, the lineman could be seriously injured or even killed.”
To be eligible for the UE rebate, a generator safe connection system must be one that has been approved for the program and installed by a contractor who is on UE’s list of eligible providers at the time of installation. Approved UE contractors will assist with the rebate application and documentation needed for processing a customer’s rebate request.
The rebate applies only to the safe connection system, and may not be used toward the purchase of a generator or any other equipment. More details and a list of participating contractors can be found at www.ameren.com/SafeConnect, or by calling 800-552-7583.
UE is offering the Safe Connect rebates as a service to customers to promote safety, and is not selling or supplying the generator transfer switch systems, the generator or other related equipment, or offering any guarantees or warranties in connection with these products or their installation. In addition, UE is not responsible for the work of the contractor who sells or installs these products.
AmerenUE, a subsidiary of St. Louis-based Ameren Corporation, serves 1.2 million electric customers and 127,000 natural gas customers in a 24,000-square-mile area of north, central and eastern Missouri.
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CONTACT: Mike Cleary, 573.681.7137, or Tim Fox, 314.554.4335, both of AmerenUE