Oct. 11--It's difficult to sort out in the recent rate case filed by Ameren Illinois whether the company is greedy and wasteful or whether it has earned the right to increase rates.

That's why the task facing the Illinois Commerce Commission is so important.

Without a doubt, Ameren's public reputation isn't stellar, and there are many people who believe the company reaps enormous profits from ratepayers.

That's pretty much what a coalition fighting the rate increase said recently. The Citizens Utility Board, backed by the Illinois Attorney General's Office, is making the case that the Ameren Illinois utilities are wasteful and they don't deserve the increases they seek. State Rep. Bob Flider, D-Mount Zion, has joined that cause and taken it one step further by saying he believes the commerce commission would be justified in reducing Ameren's current rates.

The utility board said a study conducted by utility economics expert Steve Fenrick showed Ameren is one of the most wasteful utility companies in the nation. Fenrick, who is based in Wisconsin, said his study put the Illinois utilities in the bottom third of similar companies nationwide.

Other studies by CUB claim there is at least $47 million in potential savings, and they accuse the utility company of seeking unrealistically high profit levels. Ameren's timing couldn't be much worse. After receiving gas and electric distribution rate increases in 2008, the Ameren Corp. posted a record-high profit of $622 million.

Ameren officials did not respond to the accusations in those studies, saying they needed time to study the more than 2,000 pages of documents filed by its critics.

But Ameren did say that its own rate case, which had to be delivered to the commerce commission on a semitruck, justifies the rate increase. "Our delivery service rate cases are sound and accurately reflect the true cost of providing safe and reliable service to our customers," Ameren spokesman Leigh Morris said. Morris pointed out that Ameren cut $20 million out of this year's budget and $48 million out of next year's budget.

Ameren consumers have plenty of opportunity to let the ICC know how they feel about the proposed rate increase. The commission has set up a comment hot line at 1-800-524-0795. There is information at www.citizensutilityboard.org/stop ameren.html, including a list of commission hearing dates. Flider's office also is circulating petitions.

One of the ICC's hearings will be held at 6 p.m. Nov. 2 at the Decatur Public Library's Madden Auditorium.

The commission's goal is to make sure consumers are receiving a fair deal, while allowing a utility to make a reasonable profit. If Ameren is wasting millions of dollars, the ICC should recognize that.

Past decisions by the commission have appeared to favor the utility companies over consumers. When this rate case is decided in April, the commission should work hard to restore the balance between ratepayers and Ameren.

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