This is absurd.
http://www.sj-r.com/article/20141211/NEWS/141219899/-1/json
$137M Ameren rate increase approved
By Tim Landis
Business Editor
Posted Dec. 11, 2014 @ 9:05 am
Updated at 9:23 AM
State utility regulators have approved a $137 million rate increase for power-grid upgrades on the Ameren Illinois system.
The 17.4 percent increase in electricity distribution rates, announced Wednesday by the Illinois Commerce Commission, take effect Jan. 1. Commissioners also approved a $245 million increase for system upgrades on the Commonwealth Edison system, serving Chicago and northern Illinois.
Ameren serves 1.2 million electric and 806,000 natural-gas customers in central and southern Illinois.
Commission chairman Doug Scott said in a statement the rates were set under the 2011 Energy Infrastructure Modernization Act, a state law that allowed Ameren and ComEd to recover annual costs for installation of smart grid technology such as high-tech meters, real-time pricing of electricity, more control options for consumers and more accurate energy data.
Scott said commissioners tried to balance the need for network improvements with long-term benefits to ratepayers.
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Go there and read. More next week.
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