Ameren Illinois residential customers with past due balances have a special opportunity to establish a payment plan by paying 10 percent of the balance owed.
This special offer will be available through March 31. Beginning April 1, customers must pay 25 percent of the past due balance in order to establishing a payment plan.
To establish a payment plan, customers should call Ameren Illinois Customer Service at 1-800-755-5000.
“Some of our customers have fallen behind on their utility bills and perhaps others, as well,” said Marianne Luna, assistant manager of Ameren Illinois Customer Service. “We want to make it as easy and convenient as possible for these customers to catch up by paying 10 percent now and then the remaining balance in monthly installments.”
In addition, some customers may be eligible for assistance through LIHEAP (Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program). LIHEAP provides energy services payment assistance to eligible low-income households, elderly persons and people with disabilities. Grants are based on the number of people in a household, total income and the type of energy used.
LIHEAP information is available by calling the Energy Assistance Hotline at 1-877-411-9276 or online at this website: www.ildceo.net/dceo/Bureaus/Energy+Assistance/Illinois+LIHEAP/.
Assistance also is available for qualifying customers through the Warm Neighbors Cool Friends program. Sponsored by Ameren Illinois and administered by the Energy Assistance Foundation, the program provides assistance for utility bills and home weatherization. Applications for assistance are available through local agencies. For information, call 1-800-755-5000 or visit the AmerenIllinois.com, select “Customer Service Center” and then “Energy Assistance.”
The Ameren Illinois Act On Energy® initiative is helping customers spend less on energy by using less energy. Act On Energy offers customers free energy saving advice, as well as financial rebates and incentives. For more information about the Act On Energy programs for residential customers, visit ActOnEnergy.com, call 1-866-838-6918 or send an e-mail to: ActOnEnergyResidential@ameren.com.
Residential customers who have past due balances and have failed to establish a payment plan or are not honoring a payment plan agreement will be subject to service disconnection beginning in April.
A service disconnection only will occur after Ameren Illinois has attempted to contact the customer and a final service disconnection notice has been issued.
“Our goal is to avoid service disconnections,” Luna said. “We will only disconnect service when every reasonable effort to establish a payment plan has failed or the customer has not paid the agreed upon payments.”
A customer with a certified medical condition or special need who receives a disconnection notice should immediately contact Ameren Illinois Customer Service.
Contacts: : Leigh Morris, 1-214-535-5228, lmorris@ameren.com; Victoria Busch, 1-618-346-1286, vbusch@ameren.com; Neal Johnson, 1-309-677-5284, njohnson@ameren.com
# # #
Ameren Illinois delivers energy to 1.2 million electric and 813,000 natural gas customers in Downstate Illinois, and our mission is to meet their energy needs in a safe, reliable, efficient and environmentally responsible manner. Our service area covers more than 1,200 communities and 43,700 square miles. For more information, visit AmerenIllinois.com.