Ameren Rates

If you get your electricity directly from Ameren, expect your rates go go up about 50% starting in August. Those who get their power through Homefield can expect to pay about 1 penny less per kilowatt hour.

 2025/2026 AMEREN ELECTRIC SUPPLY FAQ 

MISO, the regional grid operator for the Ameren service territory, held its annual capacity auction to ensure there is sufficient electricity supply to provide power on peak days throughout the year. The auction resulted in a significant increase in summer capacity prices over current prices and will increase the overall power supply price that Central and Southern Illinois will pay this summer. 

How does the cost of power supply impact my utility bill? 

There are two components of the energy bill: Supply & Delivery 

• The main components to the energy bill are the delivery charge, which covers the costs of Ameren Illinois' wires and poles, our technology and operating systems, maintenance and modernization of the grid, and the people who do the work. As a delivery-only utility, Ameren Illinois earns a profit on energy delivery as set each year in rates approved by the Illinois Commerce Commission. 

• The other element of the bill is the power supply charge – or the cost of electricity itself. Ameren Illinois does not own generation or generate power; it is purchased for us to deliver by a state agency. The cost of electric supply accounts for more than half of a typical customer’s monthly electric bill. 

How much will customers pay for power supply? 

Beginning June 1, 2025, and ending September 30, 2025, Ameren Illinois' supply price (also known as the Price to Compare) will increase by roughly 50 percent, going from around 8 cents per kWh to around 12 cents per kWh. This will result in an approximately 18% to 22% total bill increase for the typical residential customer for the summer period, depending on their usage. This supply price increase will only be in effect for four months (June-September). Beginning on October 1, 2025, the supply rate is expected to return closer to current levels (around 8-9 cents) for the remaining eight months. 

Because of billing cycles, customers likely won't see the new rate reflected on their bills until July 2025. 

Why are power supply prices going up? 

MISO, the regional grid operator for the Ameren service territory, held its annual capacity auction to ensure there is sufficient electricity supply to provide power on peak days throughout the year. The auction showed lower available surplus capacity for the summer months, resulting in a twenty-fold increase in summer capacity prices over current prices (from $30/MW-day to $666.50/MW-day). 

How are supply prices set? 

• In Illinois’ restructured energy markets, the Illinois Power Agency (IPA) procures electricity and a portion of the electric capacity for residential and small commercial customers who have not made the switch to an alternative supplier. 

• The electricity procurement acquires the basic generation needed to meet forecasted usage through the year. Capacity is acquired to ensure that there is enough power available on days when peak usage in an hour is at its highest (like on extremely hot days) and energy usage spikes. 

• The IPA attempts to procure as much capacity as it can in advance (known as “hedging”). The remainder is procured by MISO through its annual capacity auction. 

• The supply price includes the electricity costs (IPA) and capacity costs (IPA & MISO). Ameren Illinois enters into pricing contracts with generators at the prices secured by IPA and MISO and passes the costs to customers, dollar-for-dollar without mark-up or profit. 

Is there a concern about power availability? 

Ameren Illinois is confident that there is a sufficient amount of energy to meet the needs of our residential and business customers this summer and throughout the year. Supply constraints, however, increase the risk that insufficient generation will be available during periods of extreme temperatures and high energy usage. In the unlikely event that this would occur, Ameren Illinois has a well-developed process to reduce electric load with minimal impact on residential customers. 

Are all Ameren Illinois customers subjected to the new supply rates? 

No. Only Ameren Illinois customers who elect to receive their electric supply through Ameren Illinois’ Basic Generation Service should expect to pay the new rates. 

Nearly half of Ameren Illinois customers receive their electricity from an Alternative Retail Electric Supplier (ARES). Ameren Illinois encourages all customers, including those who are supplied by an ARES under a municipal aggregation agreement, to know their supply rate and the terms of their contract. Customers can find their rate and supplier by locating the "Electric Supply" portion of their Ameren Illinois bill. 

As a delivery-only company, Ameren Illinois supports electric supply choice as another option for customers to lower their energy costs. Customers can visit the Illinois Commerce Commission website at pluginillinois.org to learn more about electric choice. 

Electric Rate

 The city sent out another email reminding electrical customers in the city that the new electric rates will kick in July1 although the price will only go up about a half cent a kilowatt hour, which is still pretty cheap. We had one of the companies in the store a  couple of weeks ago that pitch a lower electric rate because they can search among different suppliers. The problem is, from what I have found is that, like teaser internet or cable rates, the price is really low up front but jumps significantly when the initial contract ends. 

The City of Carbondale participates in an electric aggregation buying group with 94 other communities known as the Southern Illinois Aggregation Partnership (SIAP). Through this, the City of Carbondale has a contract with Homefield Energy that keeps electric prices at a fixed, steady rate throughout the year, instead of fluctuating as with other energy suppliers. The new aggregated rate from Homefield Energy will be

$0.091/kWh. This is a 12-month fixed rate from July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025.

However, this summer Ameren’s rates are sitting at a slightly lower cost. The new price-to-compare will be $0.08136/kWh from Ameren’s BGS-1 electric supply service this summer (June 1, 2024 – September 30, 2024) compared to Homefield Energy’s new aggregated rate of $0.091/kWh. The non-summer numbers from Ameren will not be official until late September for the period of October 1, 2024 – May 31, 2025.

The slight increase in the Homefield Energy rate from it’s previous rate of $0.08473/kWh to $0.091/kWh is attributed to capacity costs increasing for our region for the annual capacity planning year running June 1, 2024 to May 31, 2025. Homefield Energy also had to procure additional energy hedges for December 2024 through

June 2025 and the markets have continued either holding steady or slightly increasing for energy commodity prices.

If you wish to participate in the City's negotiated aggregation rate you do not need to do anything further after receiving your letter. If you DO NOT wish to participate, you must Opt-Out. Instructions will be on the letter or you can call Homefield Energy at 866-694-1262 to opt-out. The deadline to opt-out is June 19th, however there will be no penalties or early termination fees if you choose to opt-out at a later date. Here is the press release

Opt-out letters were recently sent out for the new aggregation rate by Homefield. There is an opt-out period currently happening until June 19th for all eligible residents which includes the following:

1. Residents currently enrolled with Homefield Energy under the previous aggregation rate of $0.08473/kWh

2. Residents currently being served by Ameren’s basic generation service for electric supply, regardless of if they opted out of the previous aggregation rate.

Residents who opted out previously, or moved within or into the City since the last opt-out period, may still have Ameren as their electric supplier and were mailed an opt-out letter by Homefield for the new aggregation rate beginning next month. These people can opt-out now before the June 19th deadline and will not be subject to Ameren’s minimum stay requirement since they will not be getting dropped by an electric supplier.

Minimum stay requirement from Ameren comes into play when a customer is receiving electric supply from a retail electric supplier and returns to Ameren’s electric supply service. If they do so, they have 60 days to select a new retail electric supplier and if they do not choose one, they must remain a customer of Ameren’s electric supply service for an additional 10 months (12 months total being on Ameren’s service).

Ice Storm Follow Up

In case you missed it, last Friday's ice storm knocked out power to about 40% of Carbondale homes. By 6 p.m. Saturday, due to yeoman work by Ameren linemen, power was restored to all by about 3% of them.

Ice Storm

Streets in Carbondale are fine, though steps can be a bit slick. Tree down on a power line on North Oakland, just north of the intersection with West Sycamore. According to the Amerin website, just under 40% of the residences in the 62901 area code war without power

Light Bulb Recycling

Apparently it's going to become much easier to recycle compact florescent bulbs locally and the state and Ameren are partnering to put a hundred recycling units are various locations throughout the state, including Carbondale.