Ameren to lower rates by 3.5 percent

If you buy your gas from AmerenUE, it just got cheaper.

The Missouri Public Service Commission on Wednesday ordered a 3.5 percent reduction in AmerenUE’s gas prices. AmerenUE spokesman Mike Cleary said the company filed a request on Feb. 22 to lower its rates to reflect lower charges from its supplier.

Cleary said that while the process of lowering prices normally takes longer, AmerenUE expedited the process in order to pass the savings along to customers as quickly as possible.

While the Public Service Commission in a news release reported that natural gas prices have dropped by nearly 5 percent, the actual decrease in customers’ bills is less because other components included in the gas delivered to customers’ homes must be accounted for as well. The average residential gas bill for the month of March will drop by about $5, Cleary said.

The change affects AmerenUE’s 125,000 gas customers in Missouri and about 40,870 in Columbia, Cleary said.