Only one Mid-Missourian spoke during Tuesday evening's Public Service Commission public hearing on Ameren Missouri's proposed increase in natural gas rates.
"There's a lot of people who cannot afford this rate increase, just in my community alone," Leonard Steinman of Jefferson City told Commissioner Terry Jarrett.
Ameren is asking the PSC to approve a nearly $10 million natural gas rate increase.
Warren Wood - an Ameren Missouri vice president - noted the rate increase request is for the company's costs of delivering natural gas, not the costs of the gas itself, which, "historically is 60 to 70 percent of the (total) bill."