Starting this month, AmerenUE’s Missouri electric customers will see a credit on their bills due to the company’s first billing adjustment factor under the Fuel Adjustment Clause (FAC).
On an annualized basis, the average credit for residential customers is expected to be approximately 40 cents per month. However, the exact amount each customer receives will vary based on the customer’s energy usage. The credit will appear on customers’ bills as a new line item, shown as the “Rider FAC Adjustment.” The FAC will change three times a year—October, February and June.
The adjustment is made with MoPSC oversight and is not directly associated with any full rate-case process. Had net base fuel costs been higher than those in base rates, the line item would appear as a charge instead of a credit.
Approved by the Missouri Public Service Commission (MoPSC) in January 2009 to be effective March 2009, the FAC allows UE to respond to changes in net base fuel costs by seeking recovery of higher fuel costs or by crediting customers if fuel costs drop—as they did between March and May of 2009, the period on which this adjustment is based.
In contrast, UE’s pending rate case reflects higher net base fuel costs for the full test year in the case—April 2008 through March 2009, as updated through January 2010. The level of net base fuel costs in base rates is reset every time UE files for an electric rate case.
AmerenUE, founded in 1902, provides electric and gas service to approximately 1.2 million customers across central and eastern Missouri, including the greater St. Louis area. UE serves 57 Missouri counties and 500 towns. The company's electric rates are among the lowest in the nation. For more information, visit www.ameren.com.
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Contact: Tim Fox, 314-554-4335