2022/05/02 - Mayor's Column: Ameren Utility Increases
“AN OPEN DOOR TO O’FALLON”
A WEEKLY NOTE FROM MAYOR HERB ROACH
We were recently contacted by our local Ameren Illinois representative who wanted to make us aware of developments in the power supply market. Ameren is anticipating a steep increase in the costs of power that will impact what their customers pay for heating and cooling through the remainder of the year.
Ameren has stated that residential customers could see an increase of at least $50 per month and this will begin to go into effect on the June bills.
Significant global events, including the conflict in eastern Europe, an increase in post-pandemic demand, increasing natural gas prices which are strongly correlated with power prices, and the nationwide transition away from fossil fuel generation to renewable generation sources are driving higher costs for the power and natural gas Ameren Illinois delivers to heat, cool, and power homes and businesses in Downstate Illinois.
A few weeks ago, federal electric grid operator MISO released the results of its annual capacity procurement auction which sets prices paid to power generators to guarantee that an ample supply of power will be produced during days when demand for energy is high. MISO said that renewable generation – solar and wind – has not kept pace with the generation capacity that has been lost as fossil fuel plants have retired, creating a capacity shortage in the region that covers Ameren Illinois customers. The capacity shortage is driving capacity prices ~47-times higher than today. Further, MISO's president said regions without sufficient generation to cover their load plus their required reserves face an increased risk of temporary, controlled outages to maintain system reliability.
This news came as a shock to us, especially the drastic increase that our residents could see for their power needs.
However, the good news is that the City of O’Fallon participates in the municipal aggregation program, which fixes the rate at .0439 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) for 24 months. This rate will continue for those in the program until it expires in December 2022. At that time, we will join thousands of other communities and go out for bid on utility prices.
In our community’s aggregation program, residents are not required to sign a contract and will not be contacted by a salesperson. If you are approached by an electric marketer, please be aware that it is not part of O’Fallon’s electrical aggregation program.
There is no risk for the residents and no contracts, but we still feel that it is important to have a choice in whether to participate or not, so if you ever feel that this is not a good choice, you can switch back to Ameren or any other vendor at any time by contacting Homefield Energy at 866.694.1262.
Customers that choose to opt out of the aggregation program are subject to a contract lock period and the utility will not allow you to re-join the O’Fallon Municipal Aggregation Program for 12-months.
If you are a new residential electric customer, or uncertain if you are enrolled in O’Fallon’s aggregation program, please contact Homefield Energy at 866.694.1262.
If you would like to know more information or have questions, please reach out to Sandy Evans, O’Fallon Director of Finance, at 618-624-4500 Ext. 8723 or at [email protected].
As residents of O’Fallon, you should always be able to reach out to your elected officials and ask questions about what is happening in O’Fallon. Having open communications is important to me and something I care very deeply about. Thank you for reading, and please remember, my door is always open.