Your Opinion: Ameren's track record

Dear Editor:

Many articles dealing with infrastructure surcharges have appeared in the News Tribune, and some of the statements leave me puzzled.

How can anyone say with certainty that this bill, if passed, will create thousand of jobs or it will help keep our monthly electric bill low and predictable and peace of mind.

The only thing predictable with my invoice is that it grows faster than the ink can dry on it. Less than three years ago my average monthly electric bill was $90 today it's $150. Now they want to give Ameren free hand in adding more charges, without controls over them. There are four add-ons to our current bills and now they want to add a fifth that no one other then Ameren will have control over.

Ameren's track record is no secret. Five out of the last six years rate increases have totaled close to a billion dollars. What in the world did they do with the money? Shucks I should know, stockholders and salary increases for management folks. Don't forget the salary increase they gave the CEO a couple of years back. The claim was that it was mandatory if they wanted to keep him running the company. I'm sure there a few persons out there could do the job as well, and perhaps better, an possibly a lower salary.

Can we trust, better yet, can we afford Senators Kehoe and Riddle. Absolutely not. What they are proposing is giving the fox an open door to the hen house and saying, go for it, have fun.

Face it folks, we have a monopoly that is running roughshod over us. We really have no one to protect us but the Missouri Public Service Commission, albeit, poor protection.

Our only recourse is coming in 2014 elections. Please exercise your vote. I know where my vote lays.

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