Moody’s says it doesn’t like AmerenUE’s declining cash flow or rising operating costs, so it is downgrading the utility’s bonds to Baa2 from Baa1. Such a downgrade is always painful — it will increase the cost of carrying $3.5 billion in…

Fortune magazine gives St. Louis credit for eight companies in the new Fortune 500 list. That’s the same number as last year, which isn’t bad in this era of corporate consolidation. The Regional Chamber and Growth Association, though, wants to boost our number…

Careful readers of recent communications from AmerenUE might have noticed something different about the company’s logo: the “UE” got bigger, and the utility added the tagline “Connecting Missouri.” The new logo is at left, the old at right.

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Ameren Chief Executive Gary Rainwater got total compensation of $4.7 million last year, the company discloses in a proxy statement filed with the SEC.

His base salary of $900,000 was unchanged from 2006, but his bonus of $696,000 was more than…

Scott Cisel, president of Ameren’s Illinois utilities, met with a Post-Dispatch editorial writer, reporter and columnist today to discuss the company’s request for a rate increase. Among the reasons Ameren needs an extra $247 million from customers, he said, is…

The Show-Me Institute, a conservative think tank in Clayton, has focused most of its attention on statewide issues like health care,  education and eminent domain. But it’s also interested in micro-level economic issues, as a new commentary on Kirkwood’s utilities indicates.

Show-Me…

For some reason, CNBC has developed a healthy curiosity about the St. Louis economy and has asked a certain Post-Dispatch columnist/blogger to appear on its “Power Lunch” program tomorrow (Friday). I’ll be on shortly after 11 a.m. (central time)  along with…

Bill Barbieri, managing executive for renewables at AmerenUE, wants to make a couple of points about voluntary programs that let consumers pay more for “green” energy. My Friday column, which compared such programs to indulgence-buying, mentioned Ameren’s Pure Power initiative, which…

Standard & Poor’s, carrying out an earlier threat, downgraded Ameren’s Illinois utilities to junk-bond status today. Moody’s, a rival debt-rating agency, had taken similar action already. Both agencies have expressed concern about a move in the Illinois Legislature to freeze…

The new Fortune 500 list is out, and it contains the same eight St. Louis companies as last year’s list. That’s down from a high of 11 local companies in 2000, before mergers took away such local names as May Department…