CENTERTOWN, MO. -- The Centertown Leisure Village was humming with activity.

Triple digit heat in the heart of Missouri Tuesday had air conditioners running wide open and the people who pay for comfort thinking efficiency.

That put the spotlight on a new Ameren U/E program that provides low-income households with new appliances.

A team employed by Ameren U/E went door-to-door here, wrapping water heaters and swapping facet fittings and light bulbs with high-efficiency replacements.

Lucille Stieferman will get more in the days to come. There will be a new refrigerator and eventually a new air conditioning unit. The program also provides programmable thermostats and dehumidifiers.

Stieferman said that she looks forward to all of it.

“Yes, uh-huh, very much so,” Stieferman said.

Ameren U/E this year will spend over $4 million to refit more than 800 federally-subsidized family living units in its service area in Missouri. The new appliances should reduce annual utility costs by an average of $125 per year per unit.

Ameren U/E provides electricity to 500 communities in 57 Missouri counties.

Company officials said cutting energy consumption at the household level reduces the need for investment in additional power-generating facilities.
"The whole idea is to get high-efficiency appliances and other products like show heads and that type of thing into homes and to help people save money,” Ameren UE Spokesman Mike Cleary said.

Michelle Biesemeyer runs apartment complexes in Centertown, Russellville, and St. Martins. The program will retrofit a total of 39 apartments in the Jefferson City area.

"We pay all of the utilities here, so it's gonna be a huge savings,” Biesemeyer said.