In reality, the law is already established: the LEGISLATURE has given all it’s utility regulatory power to the PSC. The PSC is smart enough to realize that if they make substantial changes in the requirements, that then Ameren will have a better case for rates. We can’t have THAT. Bottom line, you get what you’re willing to pay for. If you want a more aggressive tree trimming program and more buried lines, then the ratepayers better willing to pay for it.

My power only went out for a few hours - so, I walked over to this chick’s house near my own crash pad and spent the night with her.

(she isn’t a Republican, by the way)

Nope…. nothing more is needed………..

Yawn… Are those crickets I hear out there?

1. governor matt blunt’s brother is a lobbyist for ameren

2. governer matt blunt attempted to eliminate the missouri department of natural resources when he took office

3. ameren is a notoriously arrogant monopoly with a track record of not investing in infrastructure and maintenance, basically taking the money and running while running a pr campaign to proudly proclaim the opposite

because of this I would not expect much in terms of accountability from ameren or the state of mo on this one folks

All the hard line stances by lawmakers was nothing more than a show. They never intended to do anything and were only looking to gain some political capital among the people. That being said, I don’t think there is any action to take by the legislature at this time. This is a matter for the PSC to handle. Give the PSC some time to do its job. If the PSC refuses to do anything, then it would be time to replace some or all of the commissioners.

Does this surprise anyone? Lawmakers only care about one thing — money. AmerenUE lined their pockets, and for the rest of us who suffered a week or two in 100+ degree temps — too bad, next time maybe you better donate more to our campaigns.

With crooks like Blunt and Bush in office who care nothing more about how to line their pockets with cash and help their friends nobody should be surprised when you electric rates go up 200% and gas hits $5 a gallon.

If you want change — if you want someone with an IQ greater than 50 — in office then vote come election day.

I agree with T J (#6) that this is a matter for the PSC to handle–for the time being anyway. But do I ever expect any real change, for anyone to stand up to Ameren? Not really. We’ll just have to get used to throwing away hundreds of dollars of groceries and finding alternate lodging on a semi-regular basis. Do you really want to fire up the generator for days at the current price of gasoline? It’s six of one and half a dozen of another which option is the more expensive and/or aggravating. Meanwhile don’t expect anyone in a position to do anything about it to step up to the plate for you.

Just to be clear, we’re talking about the Missouri State legislature, right? I’m having a lot of trouble seeing how oversight of Ameren can be sold as a “values” issue or can be used in some other way to contravene the will of the voting public, which is exactly why Jetton, Lembke, et al haven’t done anything about it.

Snark aside, I think hs has it right in the first post. This is largely the purview of the PSC, and there’s probably a considerable amount of truth to the assertion that raising performance standards would justify an increase in rates. It’s all a simple game of cause and effect — just as low fuel taxes = crappy roads, low electric rates = crappy service. We’re all getting exactly what we paid for.

I lived through an ice storm that hit Kokomo Indiana in the early 90’s. The weather was very similar to what was seem in Dec. We, as well as most of the town, did not have power for 3 weeks. We lived in the area schools or with family to the north or south. Subsequently, I didn’t find July or Dec to be very bad here. I was pretty pleased with the speed that I got power back (July- 1 day/Dec 4 days) and no one was without for 3 weeks.