Current Date/Time: 11/21/2024 11:56:13 PM
Linked Consumer Comments
ER-2024-0319
| Consumer Comment No. | Date Filed | Consumer Comments |
|---|---|---|
| P202400716 | 5/1/2024 2:20 PM | My wife and I recently learned we were on Ameren Missouri's "Evening/Morning Savers" Rate Option. Under this rate option, users are charged more for power used between 9 am and 9 pm than under the "Anytime Users" plan, which charges the same rate throughout the day. Since we both work from home, we would never have voluntarily chosen such a rate plan, and suspect that most users would end up with higher bills overall under such a plan. Upon calling Ameren, we learned that we were put on this rate plan "by default" on or about 2/14/23. In other words, Ameren surreptitiously "defaulted" its customers to what for most of them will be a higher billing rate. (see attached PDFs) |
| P202400776 | 6/25/2024 3:43 PM | "I have no problem paying what I owe is due but I think the time of year (right before Christmas) that Ameren reviews the budget bill amounts & not sending out more notice is not customer friendly and makes me feel as though I'm being gouged; especially when I always pay my remaining balance at the beginning of every year. It is also very disheartening when you call & the CSRs can't do anything about the issue & have to have a supervisor call back at a later time & those calls never come at a time when customers are available. At least make yourself more available to your customers if you state that you're trying to have their interests in mind." This comment is pertaining to CI202401267. |
| P202500013 | 7/8/2024 8:16 AM | "I just realized the approved Ameren rate hike. I don't understand how a public utility, that we all need, and who has no real competition, can have a Net Income in 2023 of $1,152,000,000.00? I see over a BILLION dollars in Profit for a public utility. So, why is this entity allowed to profit that greatly, and why do they have stockholders? Seems like they can just request a rate increase and you all approve it and thus their shareholders are essentially guaranteed a profit while functioning without competition. This just has the appearance of entitlement and possible fraud, in my opinion." |
| P202500021 | 7/9/2024 1:34 PM | Mike from JBATHE, an electric company, called and stated that he interacts with Ameren on a daily basis. In the past, they used phone numbers to address issues. They have a construction hotline. If something is unclear, they have supervisors. They all work at home. Sometimes it takes them days to call you back. There is no more customer service out there. |
| P202500027 | 7/12/2024 11:23 AM | Customer contacted to express her concern about her health, radiation, and what was going on in her home. Is it actually fair? It's their system and meters. Why are we paying for that? It appears to her that they are assisting Ameren. They have previously had meter readers at no additional cost. How do we know they're reading non-standard meters like the old ones? This is extremely unfair. With all of the extra fees, the bills continue to increase. |
| P202500036 | 7/16/2024 5:17 PM | The power goes out for this block everytime it rains a few inches/blows a few knots/ or for no reason; "technical error". It's always the same 69 houses and takes hours-days to fix with no explanation. Despite 8 years of myself and 2 decades of older neighbors asking them to fix the problem, the same issue arises multiple times a month and they remain indifferent. They increase price and lower quality consistently. They need to upgrade this block but refuse to acknowledge this constantly repeating issue. |
| P202500045 | 7/19/2024 2:17 PM | The customer disputes to the bill not identifying a beginning or ending meter reading. She stated that all they needed to do was perform calculations or update the way the bill is shown. She has to continue looking online and do more checking. |
| P202500050 | 7/22/2024 4:11 PM | At this critical time, the people need MOPSC to be the protectors that you are supposed to be. Regulators are there to protect people from exploitation behaviors that monopoly companies can't seem to resist. Us regular people have only 2 protections to keep any control over elec costs: MOPSC is one. Reducing consumption was the other. The second option was taken away around 2009 when the revenue and sales were finally decoupled. The people are beginning to think the whole system may be compromised. MOPSC's actions will determine if faith should remain. There are communities full of good, underpaid people. When costs they can't control increase, they are forced to make tough decisions. Don't let dividends ruin communities. |
| P202500056 | 7/25/2024 9:47 AM | "I want the current and previous reading from my meter to actually reflect actual meter readings opposed toa calculated usage amount as a solar customer." |
| P202500059 | 7/26/2024 9:07 AM | The summer rates are too high. An extra 100 dollars in the summer each month is too much for people to afford. Perhaps something different can be done to offset the demand. |
| P202500060 | 7/26/2024 10:54 AM | At this critical time, the people need MOPSC to be the protectors that you are supposed to be. Regulators are there to protect people from exploitation behaviors that monopoly companies can't seem to resist. Us regular people have only 2 protections to keep any control over elec costs: MOPSC is one. Reducing consumption was the other. The second option was taken away around 2009 when the revenue and sales were finally decoupled. The people are beginning to think the whole system may be compromised. MOPSC's actions will determine if faith should remain. There are communities full of good, underpaid people. When costs they can't control increase, they are forced to make tough decisions. Don't let dividends ruin communities |
| P202500064 | 7/29/2024 12:10 PM | Jeffrey is a former PSC employee. He had his issue resolved but wanted to file a consumer comment regarding TOU rates and the process of selecting a TOU rates. Several post cards/letters regarding picking a TOU rate & Ameren's process is confusing and should only take one time to select a TOU rate. Had to call Ameren to switch back to the TOU he wanted. Believes customer service side of selecting a TOU rate could be bettter. |
| P202500108 | 8/1/2024 7:41 AM | Is the PSC going to approve another Ameren rate increase? It would be kind of ridiculous considering they profit billions. |
| P202500110 | 8/1/2024 7:46 AM | I am strongly against ameren raising their rates after we recently had a price increase. Ameren is a monopoly making billions in profits annually. Further increases will negatively impact me and my growing family. Keep American families' utilities affordable so that we can grow. |
| P202500163 | 8/5/2024 9:20 AM | "Knowing that Ameren is going to again ask for another rate increase is absolutely immoral. This monopoly has to be stopped. We are still suffering from Federal policies that drove inflation to insane levels. Prices of everyday essential items are still much higher than they need to be. Ameren was already allowed to change their billing policy to charge EVERYONE more during the highest usage times of the day. I can't imagine how much money this brought in. They also told me a few years back that I used $900 more in gas than they tracked. Honestly, I am not sure why this company yields so much power and authority in Jefferson City. These companies were not voted into office, like the majority of people in the Missouri Govt..*See Attached |
| P202500178 | 8/6/2024 11:38 AM | Cary states "I do not agree with the propaganda sent out by Ameren. They are spending too much money on fancy paper and all these mailings that are mostly insignificant when they could be using that money to stop increasing our rates." |
| P202500305 | 8/12/2024 11:05 AM | Ameren's extra fees add up to $28. Somewhere the commission needs to start saying no to these charges. All these charges that the PSC is allowing the utility's to charge needs to be more regulated. These are charges that the public is not allowed to vote on. |
| P202500318 | 8/13/2024 3:04 PM | "I feel very strongly that the St.Louis area NEEDS another electricity provider to choose from. Ameren not having any competition has left them entirely too powerful. The people of St. Louis needs a choice." |
| P202500325 | 8/15/2024 9:36 AM | "I am addressing the rate hike, in June my bill went up $150.00! I understand expenses need to be met but please consider the elderly and those people who are on a fixed income. These rate hikes are making it extremely difficult to survive on a budget. This rate hike is unfair to a lot of people. " |
| P202500331 | 8/19/2024 9:33 AM | Our family is very sensitive to EMF's. We use an ethernet cable, not Wifi. If I am exposed to Wifi, for example at work, I get sick. It causes depression and other unwanted symptoms. I am terrified to have a smart meter installed. We are low income, so we may have to disconnect our Internet in order to pay for the 100$ fee and 40$ a month increase for "reading" an analog meter. This is not a good option. Why should I have to pay for something I got for "free" for years? I think Ameren is a bully. I have heard reports of fires starting from the smart meters. I don't want to lose my home or our lives. I worry about "catching" cancer. Not to mention the other symptoms, like not being able to sleep, or rashes ..*See Attached |
| P202500337 | 8/20/2024 4:04 PM | A customer contacted and asked why we had put up all of the windmills and solar panels. Isn't this intended to help? |
| P202500461 | 8/28/2024 8:33 AM | Ameren has already doubled my bill since the new meters went in. Why are they increasing again?? People on fixed income can't afford this! |
| P202500462 | 8/28/2024 8:35 AM | As a single mother struggling to make ends meet already, I would like to formally inform you that I strongly oppose another rate increase for Ameren and Liberty utility companies in Kirksville Missouri. |
| P202500463 | 8/28/2024 8:39 AM | I would like to put my two cents in on the rate hikes for kirksville, MO from Ameren. please see attached for comments. |
| P202500655 | 9/9/2024 9:00 AM | "If you look at the MISO site, you can find the results from the annual auction - which will be billed to us using the FAC for "purchased power". In 2022-23, the price went from $5 mh day to $236 /mh day resulting in unprecedented costs on the financials. Purchased Power had avg under $200 million - but now spiked to almost $700 million. The auction for 2024-25 had interesting results. From the gulf to Canada, all zones were good except zone 5. Zone 5 is strictly Ameren territory in MO. Ameren could not meet load requirement in any day (183 shortfall days) this fall or spring. The result was maximum cost of $720/ mh day for purchased power while everyone else is paying only $15. Who do I need to contact that will do something for us? " |
| P202500675 | 9/11/2024 | The customer called and stated that she has a cardiac condition. She does not want it. She is aware of the radiation that smart meters emit in close proximity to her bedroom. It is unfair that she always pays her bills. |
| P202500732 | 9/15/2024 1:17 PM | I recently submitted a complaint concerning my electric bill and the fact that I have received a disconnect notice in the amount of $1800.00 which is because I missed a payment arrangement payment . I did not know u was in a payment arrangement. I did not ign any documents . When u received funds from daeoc on my bill apparently they did the payment arrangements. But when I had contacted Ameren back in August when a payment was made by daeoc I was informed that u had a zero balance. I did not know that I still had a balance that was going to be on a payment schedule. I thought I had a zero balance not still had an outstanding back balance . U thought owung zero meant just that. Now they say u ow this huge amount because of a pay arrangemen |
| P202500766 | 9/20/2024 9:05 AM | "There is an issue with a system between the USPS, SpeedPay, and Ameren's online system and customer service issues that need to be looked into more." |
| P202500768 | 9/20/2024 12:03 PM | Why are we having to deal with Ameren Missouri wanting to change the way they bill us. Greed is all this is about. It's bad enough having to deal with inflation and everything else going up but it's our state government's job to protect its citizens from constant price hikes. This helps no one but Ameren and whoever gets kickbacks. |
| P202500845 | 10/16/2024 11:21 AM | "I am a student in Missouri and I oppose the Castle Bluff Energy Center; burning methane, a fossil fuel, delivers energy at the cost of residents' lungs and health--as well as the future of our planet. Although renewable sources of energy such as wind and solar are still quite new, they provide us with the opportunity to begin making positive, sustainable changes to our environment. Residents and students in this area deserve better than a coal plant immediately followed by a "natural" gas energy center. Please consider them, greater Missouri, and beyond." |
| P202500863 | 10/18/2024 11:23 AM | "As a Missouri electric consumer I am appalled and opposed to yet another Missouri energy center closure. This one being the Rush Island Energy Center which was proceeded by the Meramec Energy Center in 2022." *Please see attached for full comment |
| P202500865 | 10/18/2024 3:09 PM | "Every time I call in, they ask me for the last 4 digits of my SSN which I do not want to give. There are many different things they can ask for or use to verify my identity instead of the last 4 of the SSN. People are getting hacked every day and this should not be allowed." |
| P202500866 | 10/18/2024 4:14 PM | See Attached |
| P202500887 | 10/25/2024 4:38 PM | Please see attached for comment |
| P202500933 | 11/8/2024 3:15 PM | Ms. Ransom thinks it's unjust that a "billion-dollar company" like Ameren can hold on to her deposit indefinitely for as long as it wants, and use that money anyway it wants to, just because she's late paying her bill one month by a day or two. She thinks utilities should be forced to return deposits with interest after 12 months, regardless of whether the bill is paid on time every month. She wants that part of Ch. 13 changed. She pays thousands of dollars annually to Ameren, and yet they can hold on to her deposit indefinitely. "It's not right, especially in an economy when people are struggling to eat and pay rent." |
| P202500936 | 11/10/2024 9:56 PM | Ameren has recently had a series of rate increases. In addition, MPSC has just approved two Fuel Adjustment Clauses both ER-2024-0275 and EO-2024-0277 and the RESRAM (Renewable Energy Standard Rate Adjustment Mechanism resulting in additional costs for residential customers. The accumulation of additional rate increases will increase the energy burden for people who are already the most vulnerable: the low income, fixed income, and minority communities. I urge you to recognize that after the recent inflation and the steady increase in utility rates, Ameren must improve their public outreach regarding energy efficiency and assistance programs that can help their lower income customers, and work to control their costs and embrace renewables. |
| P202501003 | 11/19/2024 | Penny called and wanted to file a comment into the rate case. She opposes any increase in rates & would like the PSC to deny Ameren's request. In addition, she has concerns over service reliability, Ameren's website and outage information, and how long it takes to get power back on when an outage occurs. |