Ameren Illinois Customers Zapped With Rate Hike

(Springfield, IL) -- Customers of Ameren Illinois in Fulton County as well as the rest of the service area for the utility company will see a jump in their bills next month, thanks to a 137-million-dollar rate increase approved by the Illinois Commerce Commission. It means the average customer bill will rise between four- and six-dollars a month. The increase was approved under a state law that grants electric utilities a quicker path to rate hikes to get money to improve their electric grids. Lawmakers have voted to extend that law by two years to 2019, but it's not clear if Governor Quinn will sign it.