Running all those electric devices in your home is set to become more expensive when the New Year rolls around.
The Missouri Public Service Commission has given its approval to a rate increase request by Ameren Missouri that will add about $10 a month to the average electric bill, starting Jan. 2.
The $260 million rate increase for the utility's approximately 1.2 million Missouri customers was approved by the Missouri Public Service Commission on Dec. 12, according to the St. Louis Business Journal. The actual rise in your monthly bill will be dependent on your usage.
The rate approved by the commission is actually less than the $376 million Ameren requested last February. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that the company said the increase was necessary to cover higher fuel costs, pay for improvements to the local electric grid and fund energy-efficiency programs.
Missouri residents could also see their utility bills go up even more next year. The St. Louis Business Journal is also reporting that Laclede Gas Co. has put in their own filling for a rate increase with the Missouri Public Service Commission.
The $48 million request is the utility's first general one in three years and will raise the average utility bill by approximately $5 per month if it goes through.
