Ameren Corporation's (AEE Quick QuoteAEE - Free Report) subsidiary Ameren Illinois has filed for an electric rate decrease with the Illinois Commerce Commission. This proposal intends to lower monthly bills for the typical residential customer by approximately $1.70 per month. 

 

 

Focus on prudent cost management, solid project execution and reduced energy supply costs helped Ameren in modernizing the electric grid with minimal impact on customer rates. This is the second consecutive rate decrease filed by the company and the fifth since the Energy Infrastructure Modernization Act (EIMA) or Smart Grid Bill was passed in 2011.

 

Ameren Illinois plans to invest an extra $128.4 million on electric grid enhancements this year. Apart from these project costs, the company intends to make an additional investment in excess of $300 million for the maintenance of distribution equipment and installing new technology to detect and reduce the frequency of power outages.

 

 

The grid modernization initiatives taken by Ameren Illinois have increased 17% reliability and saved the customers an estimated $45 million per year. The company has already installed about 450,000 electric smart meters at customer premises and by the end of 2018 expects to add another 540,000 of the two-way devices. 

 

To be a part of this modernization, more companies are coming up with innovative ideas and investments. Any approach toward a smarter and cleaner tomorrow is expected to benefit both customers and the environment.

 

Recently, Duke Energy (DUK Quick QuoteDUK - Free Report) announced that it will spend about $13 billion to “modernize” North Carolina’s electric system over the next 10 years. The company expects this project to benefit customers by lowering bills and electricity outages. (Read More: Duke Energy to Upgrade North Carolina Electric System)

 

 

In the last six months, shares of Ameren Corporation outperformed the Zacks categorized Utility- Electric Power industry. The company’s shares returned 14.1%, compared with the industry’s gain of 5.5%.

 

 

The modernized approach and the focus on increasing customer reliability are expected to boost the performance of the company in the coming days.

 

 

Ameren Corporation currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked stocks in the same space are Entergy Corporation (ETR Quick QuoteETR - Free Report) and Fortis Inc. (FTS Quick QuoteFTS - Free Report) which sport Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

 

Entergy Corporation’s Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2017 earnings moved up approximately 9.5% to $4.94 from $4.51 in the last 60 days. 

 

Fortis Inc.’s Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2017 earnings moved up approximately 4.9% to $1.92 from $1.83 in the last 60 days.

 

 

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