AmerenUE Offers Useful Web-Based Energy Efficiency Audit Tool
November 08 2007 - 3:31PM
PR Newswire (US)
ST. LOUIS, Nov. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- The arrival of cold weather
brings a reminder from AmerenUE that customers can use a
comprehensive, Web-based energy efficiency program -- Energy
Savings Toolkit -- to save energy. All a customer needs to do is
register with and log on to http://www.ameren.com/ through the My
Home link. Once registered, the customer can move through a simple
process to determine the factors behind specific bill differences
on a month-to-month comparison. These factors could be the weather,
new appliances or just the number of days in the billing cycle. The
program integrates these and other variables to calculate a
customer's savings or costs for everything from installing
insulation to buying new appliances. The toolkit also allows
customers to analyze their bills, calculate the savings potential
of energy efficient appliances or find out what portion of their
energy use goes to heating, cooling, laundry and other activities.
Once customers know where energy is being used, they can learn ways
to reduce energy costs. In fact, customers can even calculate what
a new addition or some other change in their homes has cost -- or
saved -- them. Unlike many sites that require the visitor to answer
a long questionnaire, the toolkit asks a few questions and offers
immediate suggestions. It prompts the visitor to dig deeper only if
he or she is not satisfied and chooses to learn more. The site is
also pegged to AmerenUE's actual rates, the weather patterns where
the customer lives and that customer's actual usage. The
comparisons offered are also those of similar real homes in a given
area, based on AmerenUE rates and weather -- again, in the city or
county where the customer actually lives. The toolkit also includes
an Energy Savings Tips Library where customers can become
better-educated energy consumers. The library has tips for
selecting, purchasing and installing heating and cooling systems,
assessing the benefits of efficient lighting and water heating and
efficiently storing and cooking food. It also offers a range of
tips on weatherizing the home. And to learn about the science,
technology and even the history behind the energy industry,
visitors to the site can go to the Ameren ENERGYsmart University.
There they can learn more about energy sources, environmental
impact and energy safety. Visitors to Ameren Corporation's Web site
can now pay their bills online, request a copy of a bill, view a
range of billing information online, change a billing address, make
rate calculations, check usage information and use the toolkit
functions -- all with the click of a mouse. These "self-service"
online features make it easier for customers to sign up for, turn
on or turn off services. "Since it was launched in 2004, this
toolkit has educated and provided thousands of customers with a
range of options and a sense of control over their energy bills,"
says AmerenUE Energy Delivery Senior Vice President Richard Mark.
"Essentially this toolkit is targeted to help customers determine
what they are getting for their energy dollar and whether there are
ways they can reduce their energy costs. "Ameren's goal with its
Web site, and in particular with the customer portion of the site,
is to be helpful, informative, fast and available to our customers
when they need it. This service gives AmerenUE customers yet
another reason to visit http://www.ameren.com/." AmerenUE is
Missouri's largest electric utility company with 1.2 million
customers; the company also provides natural gas to 125,000
Missouri customers. With assets of $20 billion, Ameren companies
serve 2.4 million electric customers and nearly one million natural
gas customers in a 64,000-square-mile area of Missouri and
Illinois. DATASOURCE: AmerenUE CONTACT: In St. Louis, Susan
Gallagher, +1-314-554-2175, or Tim Fox, +1-314-554-3120, or
Outstate Missouri, Mike Cleary, +1-573-681-7137, all of Ameren Web
site: http://www.ameren.com/
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