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Legal Department Memorandum 2009-11 <br /> October 13, 2009 <br /> Page Two <br /> Another area that will be investigated and addressed in testimony if found to be <br /> valuable is Ameren's ro osed increase to meter and customer Char es for the DS-2 <br /> P P 9 <br /> Small General Service and DS-5 Lighting Service classes. (Traffic signal service is <br /> provided under DS-2 rates; DS-5 rates are limited to photo-eye controlled lighting). The <br /> meter charge recovers the cost of the meter, associated recurring meter expenses and <br /> meter reading. The customer charge recovers the administrative costs of servicing the <br /> account. Ameren is beginning to require meters at traffic signal intersections therefore, <br /> it is important to look at these charges. Ameren proposes to increase the meter charge <br /> from $5.15 per month to $7.24 per month, a 141% increase. The customer charge <br /> increases from $7.16 per month to $15.00 per month, a 209% increase. There is little <br /> documentation in the rate filing to support these increases. <br /> In addition, recent reports prepared for the ICC concerning Ameren reliability were <br /> reviewed by RWBeck, and comparisons were made of spending for maintenance and <br /> capital investments across the three Ameren Illinois subsidiaries. Reliable electric <br /> power is of critical importance to the City and its residents, and is typically a primary <br /> requirement for siting of new high tech economic development opportunities. Since <br /> AmerenlP maintenance spending appears to be below the other Ameren companies <br /> and trending downward, further investigation of this issue appears warranted. The <br /> services provided by RWBeck will develop these issues and prepare testimony to place <br /> into the ICC case on behalf of the cities. . <br /> In entering into an intergovernmental agreement to intervene, costs are lower if <br /> shared and each of these other downstate cities has agreed to participate in the most <br /> recent rate increase case. Expert testimony is necessary to review the technical rate ', <br /> case filings and provide evidence. Costs would ultimately be shared among the cities <br /> that choose to participate on the basis of population. Champaign will be the lead <br /> agency which contracts with the experts and attorneys and then requests <br /> reimbursement from all the other participating parties. The estimated cost for the City <br /> would be approximately $37,000.00. It is estimated that if successful, the annual <br /> savings to the City would exceed this cost. <br /> WLM:pm <br /> cc: John T. Robinson <br /> Amy Waks <br />