Online Electricity Calculator - Exactly How Much Will You Save?

Ameren Energy, the local utility, has an online calculator which will provide you with your price-to-compare, that is, the rate you are paying for your electricity.  This is conveniently broken down into three different charges - Delivery, Taxes, and of course, Supply.  Supply is the only portion of your bill which is impacted by this program (delivery & taxes are regulated and cannot be impacted).  

To use Ameren's online calculator:

1. Go to http://www.ameren.com/pages/home.aspx and sign-in or register (if you don't have an online account) on the lefthand side of the page.
2. Once logged in, click on "View your account summary" under Account Details on the righthand side of the page.  
3. This will bring up a page with a bar graph on the top right.  Click on "Usage History".  This will produce a page showing both electric and gas service.
4. Just below the first box labeled "Meter Information", click on "Show More Detail".  A break down of your Delivery, Supply and Taxes will appear in the "Service Charge" column, but this will also provide you with your "Comparison Price" per kWh in the last column of the "Meter Information" box above.  That's the magic number to beat!  This rate is calculated on an average basis, in contrast to the chart below labeled "Account Activity", which will show your Service Charges for each month.