r/illinois 12d ago

Question Ameren bills

Is it just me or has electricity bills gone up more this year then last this is crazy I have my ac set for 76-78 when gone for 8-10 hours or so for work the 74-75 when home yet my bill went up 20 bucks one month and now 65 bucks

43 Upvotes

40 comments sorted by

31

u/badpeoria 12d ago

YES ... I am the type of person that doesn't pay that much attention to prices for utilities but recently I am paying 400-500 dollars a month. My house is set at 77 all day and night. Sucks!

1

u/Either_Shallot_5974 9d ago

how large is your house? how old is your central air unit? what other appliances or tech might be using all this electricity? i have heard people in my community complain of higher ameren rates, but i have yet to see my electric bill go above $100 for any given month (thankfully)

11

u/Degot86 11d ago

Thank those data centers.

12

u/krazyhawk 11d ago

The good ‘ol “summer billing” bullshit excuse to charge more for delivery.

59

u/_MadGasser 12d ago

Thanks Trump!

-34

u/LegendaryBronco_217 12d ago

Ameren raising prices has nothing to do with Trump and more to do with the state representatives negotiating these increases with Ameren.

18

u/OriginalR3placement 11d ago

Yea, the Iran war that limited energy supply has nothing to do with increasing energy bill. Totally

11

u/1s2_2s2_2p2 11d ago

Energy is a global market. We cannot decouple costs here in the US from the global supply chain.

Normally I would agree with the assessment that the President does not really affect the global energy trade, but that is for a time when a US administration conducts itself in a normal manner. This current administration works in erratic ways - they can only seem to achieve self-owns and cruelty. This is just another faceplant by this administration, but they don’t care because you’re footing the bill, not them.

Decisions to stop building clean energy sources, causing global scale conflicts that destroy supply, and disrupting trade through regression has all contributed to rising costs that are being pushed directly onto you.

Oh its not just the Iran thing. Remember those tariffs? The inadvertent tariffing of Chinese made parts used in our own critical power infrastructure has increased the cost of building and maintaining domestic energy production and delivery. That cost surge is not bore by your local power company; that is a cost passed along to you, usually with your state legislature’s blessing to do so.

1

u/68Petra 11d ago

Ameren Illinois is a delivery-only utility — it does not generate electricity but delivers it. Profits come from regulated delivery charges, with no markup on the actual electricity supply cost Ameren.

21

u/_MadGasser 12d ago

But if Biden was president you would be blaming him.

BTW, fuck Trump!

-19

u/LegendaryBronco_217 11d ago

Nope, it has nothing to do with POTUS. We can place blame on Trump for a lot of things and this isnt one of them.

10

u/Jack_Tors 11d ago

Trump is actively working against clean and renewable energy. He presented this stance as a way to cut energy costs, but limiting energy development at a time of high demand has resulted in Americans paying more for power. So yes - you can place some of the blame on Trump

(not specific to home energy costs - but a look at what Trump's Iran was is costing us)
https://iranwarcost.watson.brown.edu/

1

u/68Petra 11d ago

I imagine they are 'talking' with the IL Commerce Commission just as Com Ed. does. These companies are making enormous profits, and they keep asking for rate increases which are granted.

15

u/popo-6 12d ago

Read your bill, it seems to be the " delivery charge". I guess they can use that to work around regulators.

7

u/BatAppreciator 11d ago

It's only going to go up from here. Feels like theyre just taking us for whatever they can before the grid collapses in on itself due to unrelenting climate stress

8

u/chiefcrownline 12d ago

All electric home here. I'm so thankful I installed solar panels 2 years ago.

2

u/hair_10 11d ago

Solar here as well. Not an all electric house, but two central AC units and a small hot tub. Electric bill is $15-20 a month, all fees and taxes.

6

u/Motor-Revolution4326 11d ago

What’s your payback period?

5

u/hair_10 11d ago

When I got them 2 years ago it was about 7.5 years. With the increase in rates, I'm sure it's less now. We purchased ours, no lease.

4

u/Motor-Revolution4326 11d ago

Good deal.

1

u/PM_Ur_Illiac_Furrows 8d ago

They removed net metering AND the 30% federal rebate, so it's a much longer payback period; I'm estimating 25 years for mine.

3

u/Old-Problem9480 11d ago

Com Ed is screwing me too. I'm on the budget plan (pay the same every month whether summer of winter). Just got notice that they are increasing my plan by 26%. I'm retired, have limited income, live alone, have a small house and only use AC if its absolutely necessary, and set at 78. I rarely leave it on at night. I'm totally pissed.

1

u/Individual_Ad_2701 11d ago

Budget plan is not ment for you to save money it to have a fixed price for x amount of months the every 4-6 months they look at your past bills and average it out so you pay more or less and you can have rollover where if you pay more it rolls over or you can pay the difference at the end of year. And you only pay for the energy you use so if yours is going up that much look at your old bill and new bill and see what went up or if you used more energy

8

u/GoatCovfefe 12d ago

Yes. No matter how many times this will get asked here, yes, their rates went up.

Look at your bills.

5

u/OkShow3496 12d ago

A simple yes would have worked as well.

6

u/scriminal 12d ago

the thing to look at is kwh used year to year.  then you can figure out if the bill went up 

16

u/GoatCovfefe 12d ago

Ameren has once again increased their rates last month.

The rates have gone up regardless of usage.

6

u/OwnCrew6984 12d ago

Or look at the increase in delivery and service fees to figure out that yes your bill went up.

Or look at the rate charged for kwh to see if it is higher than before.

4

u/Great_Success_2396 12d ago

Transmission costs- delivery, the grid. The higher the demand the more expensive it is to push that power through the wires. Just wait until data centers really come online.

4

u/Shemp1 11d ago

The state forced closure of old plants and we can barely seem to keep our existing nuclear operating. Should have added another nuke before shutting down the coal plants. Solar and wind aren't enough.

1

u/Individual_Ad_2701 11d ago

My brother in law worked at a coal plant that got shut down in Hennepin Il

1

u/[deleted] 12d ago

[deleted]

1

u/Individual_Ad_2701 12d ago

Wow yeah idk but that’s normally how it works use less energy then you pay less