JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- A series of hearings on AmerenUE's request for an increase in electric rates has drawn more than 2,000 people over the past six weeks.
The Missouri Public Service Commission has held 17 hearings throughout central and eastern Missouri on the St. Louis-based company's request for an 18 percent rate increase.
Regulators also have asked those involved in the rate case to provide evidence on the needs of AmerenUE's poorest residential customers.
The Public Service Commission wants the parties to consider developing an experimental class of "very low-income" customers based on federal poverty levels.