Kirkwood Electric To Match AmerenUE’s Rates

Kirkwood, Missouri – July 5, 2007 – The Kirkwood City Council entertained first reading of a bill at tonight’s council meeting that would modestly raise the retail electric rates charged by the city’s municipal utility, Kirkwood Electric, by about $2 a month per customer. The new rates would match rates charged by St. Louis-based AmerenUE. AmerenUE, which provides electricity to approximately 25% of Kirkwood’s property owners, raised their retail rates effective June 1, 2007. If approved, Kirkwood Electric customers would see the increase reflected on their monthly utility bills retroactively from July 1, 2007. “The increase is a modest one,” commented Mark Petty, director of Kirkwood Electric. “It’s much less than what we all had been expecting and what had been discussed in recent months. Our customers will see an average increase of about $2 a month.”

            Kirkwood Electric has historically matched rates charged by AmerenUE to create a level of equity among the city’s residents, so that everyone pays the same rate for the power they receive. “The biggest difference between the electricity provided by the two utilities is where the profits go,” explained Chief Administrative Officer Mike Brown. “While AmerenUE’s profits are returned to its stockholders, Kirkwood Electric revenues are returned to all citizens of Kirkwood in the form of municipal services.” Each year, the city relies on a transfer of around $1 million in revenues from Kirkwood Electric to help cover the cost of providing the community’s day-to-day municipal services such as police and fire protection and street maintenance needs.

            Kirkwood Electric, which has a customer base of approximately 10,000 within the nine-mile radius of the city, has been providing electricity to the Kirkwood community since 1901.

            Second and final reading of the bill is scheduled to take place at the next regularly scheduled City Council meeting on July 19, 2007.

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