'Shocking' Rate Increase Fight

Among a number of bills approved during the Florissant meeting on Monday night, the council approved a bill that will involve them in countywide legal action against Ameren Missouri.

The council unanimously approved an appropriation of $5,800 from the general revenue fund that would join other municipalities in St. Louis County in assisting in legal fees against Ameren’s 11 percent, proposed rate increase for street lighting.

In a letter addressed to on Jan. 6, Ameren Missouri clarifies its intentions for the street-lighting rates.

“In the Company’s last electric rate case, Street Lighting and Dusk-to-Dawn lighting rates were not increased,” Gilda S. Baldwin, the business and community affairs coordinator for Ameren Missouri, wrote. “The Company agreed to perform a cost of service study on lighting. The study indicated that the lighting class should receive a substantial increase. The Company elected not to raise rates to the level suggested by the study.”

Baldwin continues to write that the light bill will decrease by approximately more than $130,000.

According to an e-mail written by St. Louis Municipal League Executive Director Tim Fischesser, the league contends that pole-rental fees should be dismissed without charges being applied to other parts of street-lighting bills. In addition, it has requested other discounts regarding the street lighting, with respect given to the economic climate.

Last week, Ameren held a public meeting that introduced a proposed 11 percent and left several residents in an uproar.