Power Smart Pricing is an hourly pricing program for residential customers served by Ameren Illinois Utilities (AmerenCILCO, AmerenCIPS and AmerenIP). It’s a new way of paying for electricity, and it’s designed to help households save money by being smart about how and when they use energy.

Power Smart Pricing gives residential customers access to hourly electricity prices that are based on market prices. This means that the price you pay for electricity will vary from hour to hour and day to day according to the actual market price. (Under the standard residential rate, the price only varies between summer and non-summer months.) You can manage your electricity costs by taking simple actions to conserve energy during hours when prices are higher.

While prices and savings cannot be guaranteed, since Power Smart Pricing launched in early 2007, participants have saved an average of 20 percent compared with what they would have paid on the standard fixed rate (based on billing results for December 2007 through December 2009).

If you are interested in enrolling in Power Smart Pricing, please review the information outlined on the website about how the program works. If you decide to enroll, click here to start the enrollment process online. You can also download a printable enrollment form.