ILLINOIS, USA — Environmental justice advocates and residents in the Metro East have started to voice concern about recent rate hike requests from Ameren Illinois.
On Thursday, the Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition put out newspaper ads to alert customers about the company’s record requests.
In January, Ameren Illinois filed for the largest rate-hike request in its history, asking the Illinois Commerce Commission for a four-year electric rate increase of $436.6 million.
Recent hikes have trickled down to the energy and gas bills of JD Dixon and his neighbors.
“I used to pay around $100. You know between $100 and $150 to $180. My bill is now $340 plus. It's been impacting my family directly. We've had to rearrange our entire budget.” Dixon said.
That is just from the increases in the last year which the company accredited to “rising power supply prices.”
"We're calling on Ameren to stop blaming cheaper energy like wind and solar for this profit-driven rate hike," said Christina Krost with the environmental non-profit Faith in Place.
Krost had an idea to stop the rise in costs.
"Illinois is building renewable energy at a remarkable pace and the faster we can integrate that into our grid. The cheaper it will be for consumers," she added.
A spokesperson for Ameren Illinois provided the following response:
We support the clean energy transition. As required by law, we filed a Multi-Year Grid Plan to continue to provide safe, reliable and resilient energy delivery systems for our customers. The plan facilitates the adoption and development of local, clean energy generation, promotes the long-term growth of cleaner energy, and operates the infrastructure that will support electrification of the downstate Illinois economy. The Illinois Commerce Commission is conducting a transparent and rigorous 11-month review. A decision is expected in December, with a plan effective date of Jan 1, 2024.
In 2021, ICJC helped pass the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA) to phase out carbon emissions from the energy and transportation sectors.