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Electric rate deal only fits a short-term solution(The Pantagraph (Bloomington, IL) (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Jul. 24--BLOOMINGTON -- While state leaders promoted short-term relief from rising electricity costs Monday, consumers looked for a long-term solution. "(Utility customers are) still going to be looking for any help they can get," said Cathy Grafton, director of community services at Bloomington-based Mid Central Community Action, which administers state-funded utility assistance grants for low-income individuals. "We need a longer-term solution for energy," she said. "What can we do to make energy costs affordable to everyone?" Under a relief plan introduced Monday, Ameren would spread out increases over several years and give discounts to customers this year ranging from 40 percent to 70 percent. Customers should receive rebate checks by September for bills already paid. Rates, meanwhile, will increase 34.5 percent through 2010, beginning next year. "The long-term situation is that electrical expenses are going to go up," noted Michael Malone, executive director of the McLean County Chamber of Commerce. As a longer-term solution, the Chamber is launching an electrical cooperative that will allow members to band together and purchase power through competitive bidding. Seeking power in numbers, the co-op will join forces with chambers in Springfield, Logan County and Effingham to help lock in competitive prices in a two- or three-year contract. The program could save business owners 6 percent to 15 percent the first year. Residential customers, such as Thomas Parks and Madonna Thompson, meanwhile, welcome the rebates but said they'll need help in 2010 too. The couple already received one-time aid from Community Action and now they're paying interest on bills because they've signed up for a deferred-payment plan. "We just have a one-bedroom apartment and one month in the winter our bill was $170. We usually pay $45," said Thompson. Some people seeking assistance from Community Action live on $600-a-month fixed incomes and struggled to pay bills before electric rates jumped at the beginning of the year, Grafton said. And the lines seeking aid have gotten longer, she said. "People are very much feeling the pinch," she said. "We've seen a lot of new faces, and some of them don't meet the income guidelines (to get assistance)." To see more of The Pantagraph, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.pantagraph.com. Copyright (c) 2007, The Pantagraph, Bloomington, Ill. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |