By Marshall Griffin, St. Louis Public Radio
Jefferson City, Mo. – Customers who purchase natural gas from St. Louis-based Ameren Missouri should see lower bills this winter, due to rate changes approved today by the Public Service Commission.
Those changes include both a 2-cent per hundred cubic feet rate hike for pipelines in several Missouri towns and a 3-cent per hundred cubic feet decrease for the Rolla area.
Ameren Missouri spokesman Mike Cleary says the rate changes will average out to a slight decrease for most customers, about $1.60 per month. But he also says three towns in central Missouri will see a big price drop.
"For residential customers in the Rolla, Salem and Owensville area(s), it would average about $33.00 a month less than last winter, due to lower transportation charges from one pipeline that carries gas to those areas," Cleary said.
Missouri Public Service Commission Chairman Robert Clayton says natural gas prices in general are at historic lows right now, "Because of the great expansion of gas reserves that have been found in the country."
"So even if we have a cold winter, rates are gonna be lower," Clayton said. "That still means that people need to think about energy efficiency and conservation, because rates are not gonna remain at this level forever."