To Our Illinois Customers:						April 26, 2007
For many Ameren Illinois utility customers, especially those who use electricity to heat their homes, higher electric rates this winter meant sharply higher bills. We have listened to you and we are ready to provide immediate rate relief for:
	Customers who use electricity to heat their homes or otherwise use high amounts of electricity during the cold weather months. This assistance is not based on income.
	Low-income and working families who have experienced high rate increases.
	Senior citizens, low-income and working families who need some help to stay cool this summer.
	Other customers, both residential and certain non-residential, who have the greatest need.
In total, the Ameren Illinois utilities are prepared to provide nearly $73 million dollars in billing credits, weatherization aid and other forms of rate relief this year. The assistance could begin to flow to customers within weeks. But before we can move forward, the company must receive an assurance that lawmakers will not roll back electric rates to their 2006 levels and freeze them there.    Please read more…
				Message to Our Customers
				Background on Rates
				Rate Freeze Facts
				Rate Relief Details
View Examples of Average Bill Charges:
				AmerenCILCO
				AmerenCIPS
				AmerenCIPS (Metro East)
				AmerenIP
We remain committed to providing you with safe, reliable energy delivery services. You can count on it.
Message to Our Customers
The Ameren Illinois utilities are concerned about the impact of the increased rates that our customers have experienced since January.  We have participated with legislators and other stakeholders to address the immediate concerns of our customers.  A $150 million statewide relief package has been proposed and the details are included in the following update.  It is the intention of the Ameren Illinois utilities to implement these relief measures after we receive the necessary assurance from the General Assembly that a rollback and rate freeze will not occur.
Background on Rates
First a little background. AmerenCIPS and AmerenIP residential customers had not experienced an overall electric rate increase in 15 years. AmerenCILCO residential customers had not seen an increase in 25 years. That changed on Jan. 2, 2007, when new market-based electric power supply charges took effect – a system made necessary by the 1997 Restructuring Act passed by the Illinois General Assembly and signed into law by then-Gov. Jim Edgar.
Rate Freeze Facts
A rate freeze benefits no one – especially you, the customer.
		Because the Ameren Illinois utilities do not generate electricity, we must buy electricity from multiple suppliers. With a rate freeze, the Ameren Illinois utilities would pay more for electricity – as much as $1 billion more this year alone – than we receive in revenue from customers. That is a recipe for financial disaster.
		The Ameren Illinois utilities do not earn a profit – not one cent – on the sale of electricity. The utilities charge customers what we pay for electricity.
		The profit the Ameren Illinois utilities earn comes only from charges associated with delivering electricity to you. These charges and the level of profit are strictly regulated by the Illinois Commerce Commission.
		The Ameren Illinois utilities believe a rate freeze would violate the U.S. Constitution. We would immediately ask the courts to halt implementation of a freeze.
		If a rate freeze is allowed to go into effect, the Ameren Illinois utilities would quickly exhaust their financial resources, perhaps jeopardizing the delivery of electricity and natural gas to customers and most likely leading to financial insolvency of the Ameren Illinois utilities.
		Finally, freezing rates would eliminate the possibility of immediate rate relief because of the likelihood of protracted court proceedings.
Rate Relief Details
We are ready to implement our rate relief plan, the details of which are listed below. We are ready to meet with Illinois legislators and other stakeholders to discuss the plan or any other constructive proposal. In addition, the Ameren Illinois utilities stand ready to discuss reasonable long-term solutions for the rate issues facing our customers.    Many people have said it would have been better if electricity rates had been gradually increased. However, the 1997 Restructuring Act did not permit that approach. Instead, residential rates were reduced (5 percent for AmerenCIPS and AmerenCILCO and 20 percent for AmerenIP) and then frozen. That rate freeze ended in January 2007.    Though Ameren Illinois utilities rates today are at about the national average and comparable to rates paid by Commonwealth Edison customers, we acknowledge that Ameren Illinois customers experienced significant increases this winter. This is because Ameren Illinois rates had been very low – well below the national average and below most other Illinois utilities.    The Ameren Illinois utilities are ready to implement a rate relief plan that will provide the assistance needed to help customers adjust to the new rates.
Space Heat and High Winter Usage Credits: This initiative will ease the impact of the rate increase on residential customers who use electricity to heat their homes or otherwise use large amounts of electricity during the winter months. Credits will be based on actual usage during the eight non-summer months. After the credits are applied, these customers’ annual increases will be in line with rate increases for other residential customers (40 to 55 percent).
Summer Bill Credit for LIHEAP and Low-Income Customers: A one-time $30 credit will be given to residential customers who are eligible for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) or have household incomes of up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level ($40,000 for a family of four). This credit will eliminate or greatly reduce the impact of higher summer rates.
Summer Bill Credit for Senior Citizens: A one-time $30 credit will be given to seniors with incomes up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level and do not receive the Summer Bill Credit for LIHEAP and Low-Income Customers. This credit will eliminate or greatly reduce the impact of higher summer rates.
High Bill Relief Fund: A one-time credit of $240 will be provided to residential customers with incomes up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level who have experienced annualized rate increases of more than 40 percent.
Special Hardship Funds: Credits of up to $1,000 will be provided to residential customers with household incomes of up to 400 percent of the federal poverty level ($80,000 for a family of four) and have experienced special hardships not addressed by other programs. In addition, credits of up to $1,000 will be available to small non-residential customers with hardships and have bundled electrical service. Eligible customers include not-for-profit organizations, religious institutions, schools, community centers and small businesses.
Customer Elect Plan: Any residential customer and certain non-residential customers will be able to defer a portion of their electric rate increases, and repay deferred amounts free of any interest or service charge at a later time.
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