Updated 4:11 p.m. with approximate breakdown of increase for consumers.
Missouri utility regulators have approved a $260 million rate increase for electric customers of Ameren Missouri.
The rate increase approved Wednesday is intended to cover such things as the utility's rising fuel costs, infrastructure improvements, vegetation trimming and storm repairs.
About $90 million of the rate increase goes toward energy efficiency programs that could ultimately save money for residents and businesses.
The increase is about two-thirds of the $376 million hike that Ameren originally sought in February. That proposed increase was expected to raise the average electric customer's bill by about $14.
Warren Wood, Ameren's vice president of regulatory and legislative affairs said that the average increase for consumers at the levels approved today is approximately 34 cents per day, or, roughly, $10.20 per month.
This marks the fifth rate increase for Ameren in the past six years.
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