Program Guide

Comparing Your Rate Options

The main difference between Power Smart Pricing and your utility’s standard residential rate, (Utility Basic Generation Service, or BGS) is how the cost of electricity supply is calculated.

Utility Basic Generation Service
With the standard residential rate (Utility Basic Generation Service, or BGS), you pay a set price for your electricity supply. This price varies by season, and is adjusted periodically, but it does not change from hour to hour or from day to day. You pay the same price for electricity no matter what time of day or day you use it. (For the current electric supply prices for the Ameren Illinois Utilities, go to www.ameren.com.)

Power Smart Pricing
With Power Smart Pricing, the price of the electricity varies from hour to hour based on wholesale market prices. So the price you pay for electricity depends on the time of day when you use it. Your bill will show the total cost for the electricity used, calculated using the hourly market prices and your corresponding hourly usage. The Ameren Illinois Utilities do not mark up the price of power; you simply pay the market price.

The program uses “day-ahead” prices, meaning the hourly prices for each day are set the evening in advance. Each evening, price information for the following day is avaible online and by phone.

Regardless of your electric supply choice (Power Smart Pricing, or Utility Basic Generation Service), all customers are required to pay Delivery Service charges. These charges are for your utility to maintain the poles, wires, and services required to deliver electricity to your home, and are shown separately on your electric bill.

Participating in Power Smart Pricing does not change the amount of the Illinois General Assembly rate relief rebates that program participants are eligible to receive.

For more details on the specific line items that appear on customers’ electric bills, see Understanding Your Bill.

Is Power Smart Pricing Right for You?

This program can be particularly valuable for customers who are able to be flexible with regard to the time of day when they use the most electricity.

In particular, Power Smart Pricing is likely to be a good electricity pricing option if:

You are interested in saving money by using energy wisely.
You want to learn more about using energy efficiently.
You want to be part of a program that helps reduce peak demand on the electric grid and improves the environment.
You can shift some of your electricity use from higher-priced, peak-demand hours to lower-priced, off-peak hours. (For example, turn up your air conditioner setting a few degrees on summer afternoons when prices are high, and run major appliances such as clothes dryers and dishwashers during evening and weekend hours when prices are low.)

While many customers can benefit from Power Smart Pricing, the program is not for everyone. In particular, Power Smart Pricing might not be your best choice if:

You heat your home with electricity. If you have all electric heat, you are not likely to save with Power Smart Pricing.*
You have extremely high winter electricity usage. (If you use more than 1200 kWh per month during non-summer months, consult CNT Energy for assistance in determining whether you are likely to benefit.)**
You use very little electricity (typically under 400 kWh per month, or electric bills less than $40 per month). If your usage is very low, the small monthly fee of $2.25 may not be offset by your potential savings.
You are not able to or prefer not to adjust your electricity usage during hours when prices are higher.

* The rate for AmerenCIPS and AmerenIP customers formerly receiving the electric space heat rate offers a lower price for electricity usage over 800 kWh per month during non-summer months. (This lower price is not available for new electric heat installations.)

** All AmerenCILCO residential customers and AmerenCIPS residential customers who were formerly served by Union Electric Company pay a lower price for electricity usage over 800 kWh per month during the non-summer months.

Possible Savings

The more you can take action to conserve electricity when prices are high, the more you can save with hourly pricing. During 2007, participants saved an average of 16 percent on their electricity bills compared with what they would have paid on the standard residential rate (based on billing results for May through December, 2007). Similar savings are likely in the future; however, electricity markets can change and future performance levels cannot be guaranteed.

Note: Power Smart Pricing does not impact your natural gas bill. The program targets your electricity costs only.

Price Patterns and Saving Strategies

Hourly, market-based electricity prices are driven largely by demand for electricity and tend to follow fairly predictable patterns, as illustrated in the graph below. To get the best value from Power Smart Pricing, simply take advantage of lower-priced hours, and avoid the peaks. For example, delay running major appliances such as clothes dryers and dishwashers when prices are high, and run them when prices are low. See Understanding Hourly Pricing for more details about price patterns and factors that influence hourly prices.

Tools to Help You Save

CNT Energy provides information and services to help make it easy to manage your electricity usage and costs with Power Smart Pricing. These tools include high price alerts, access to day-ahead price information, and Web-based tools to help you track your electricity usage and costs.

High Price Alerts
To help you get the most out of Power Smart Pricing, CNT Energy will contact you between 5 p.m. and 10 p.m. by e-mail or telephone (your choice) if the next day’s prices will be higher than 13 cents per kWh for any number of hours during the following day. This is most likely to occur on hot summer days, but could occur on any day of the year.

This is an important part of the program, so please include your current e-mail address or telephone number when filling out your authorization form. If your contact information changes, it is your responsibility to inform CNT Energy of those changes.

Access to Price Information
Power Smart Pricing uses day-ahead, hourly electricity prices. These prices vary based on the market price of electricity. Each evening, the day-ahead prices for the following day will be available online and by phone at 1-877-655-6028. You can check the prices in advance to help you plan how and when you use energy.

Tracking Your Energy Usage and Costs
Each month after your bill is calculated, you will be able to access a breakdown of your hourly energy usage and costs online. You’ll be able to see graphs of your hourly electricity usage along with hourly prices, illustrating the impacts of your energy-saving actions during higher priced hours.

You’ll also see a bill comparison tool that automatically compares your costs with Power Smart Pricing to what you would have paid on the standard residential rate (BGS 1). To view these tools, log in to your Ameren account through www.ameren.com, then click the Power Smart Pricing link.

Getting Started

Meter Exchange
To participate in Power Smart Pricing, your electricity meter must be replaced with a meter capable of recording your energy use on an hourly basis. The Ameren Illinois Utilities will install this new meter at no additional charge. The new meter will store hourly data electronically. If the required meter cannot be installed due to equipment compatibility problems at your home, or reasonable access for monthly readings is questionable, the Ameren Illinois Utilities will contact you and provide information about your options.

Participation Fee
Customers who select Power Smart Pricing will be charged a monthly fee of $2.25 to participate in the program. This fee will be included in your electricity bill. Savings from the Power Smart Pricing are expected to more than offset this modest monthly charge.

Length of Program
To participate in this program, you must agree to remain on the hourly, market-based electricity rate for a minimum of 12 consecutive monthly billing periods. At the end of that period, you will be free to contact any certified third party supplier or your Ameren Illinois utility if you wish to select a different supply option.

Your Billing Information
If you select Power Smart Pricing, you will continue to receive your bill from the Ameren Illinois Utilities and you will remain on the same billing schedule. You will be billed on hourly pricing after the interval data recording meter is installed and a full month of interval data is recorded, but no sooner than the end of the monthly billing period. Once your account bills, you can use the Power Smart Pricing Web site to view more detailed information about your hourly usage and costs.

Moving or Selling Your Home
If you move or sell your home, the new owner or resident will automatically be put on the standard residential rate. If you move to another home served by the Ameren Illinois Utilities, you will need to re-enroll in Power Smart Pricing in order to receive the advantages of hourly electricity pricing at that location.

The Fine Print

Power Smart Pricing is an Ameren Illinois Utilities program that requires participating customers to agree to the terms of the tariffs including Rider RTP and Rider PSP. To view the details of Rider RTP and Rider PSP or any of the Ameren Illinois Utilities tariffs, visit the “Rates” section of Ameren’s Web site at www.ameren.com.

This program will terminate on December 31, 2010, unless an extension is approved by the Illinois Commerce Commission.

Participation in Power Smart Pricing does not guarantee energy or cost savings. Final energy bills will be based on your electricity usage and market rates.

For More Information

Additional details about your electricity rate options are available from the Ameren Illinois Utilities at www.ameren.com.
For more information about Power Smart Pricing, contact CNT Energy at info@powersmartpricing.org or at 1-877-655-6028.

Customer Service

CNT Energy
For questions related to other Power Smart Pricing program services, such as electricity price information, your personalized savings updates, or high price notifications, please contact CNT Energy at info@powersmartpricing.org or at 1-877-655-6028.

Ameren Illinois Utilities
If you have any questions pertaining to meters, meter reading, reporting outages or billing, please contact the Ameren Illinois Utilities.
AmerenCILCO: 1-888-672-5252
AmerenCIPS: 1-888-789-2477
AmerenIP: 1-800-755-5000

Power Smart Pricing

CNT Energy

Hourly Electricity Prices

About Power Smart Pricing