Ameren vows to upgrade for reliability

Ameren Corp. executives told state regulators today the company expects to spend $229 million this year on reliability and customer-service improvements in the wake of criticism Ameren was slow to respond to widespread storm outages last year, including an ice storm that left some central Illinois residents without power for weeks.

Ameren provides electric service to 1.2 million customers in central and southern Illinois through its AmerenCIPS, AmerenCILCO and AmerenIP utilities.

"We have a plan and visible goals that show we're making progress. We're truly committed to being a performance leader and to elevating the satisfaction of our customers," Ameren Illinois president and CEO Scott Cisel told members of the Illinois Commerce Commission at a meeting in Springfield.

The ICC oversees state utilities.

Company executives said the goal is to reduce customer outages by 25 percent by the end of 2008 and to improve coordination of repairs after weather disasters such as tornadoes that hit Springfield in March 2006 and ice storms that crippled much of central Illinois in late November and early December.

Among the improvements expected by the end of this year are establishment of an Illinois emergency operations center in Decatur, creation of a new quality assurance program and implementation of a new radio communications system.

But the Ameren executives said one of the most important steps already taken is communicating better with customers during outages, including estimates on the duration of outages through the company Web site and automated phone system.

"Quite frankly, we've been criticized for our communications, or lack of communications. Estimated outage time is so important to customers, and we understand that," said Ron Pate, director of regional operations at the Ameren office in Decatur.

Commissioners generally praised the company for its improvement plan, though ICC chairman Charles Box said the proof would come with the next widespread outage. He added that commissioners would meet again with Ameren executives early next year to make sure the goals have been met.

"It's one thing to say you're going to do something, but you need to have some realistic benchmarks," he said.