Key Illinois lawmakers got donations from Ameren
By Kevin McDermott
POST-DISPATCH SPRINGFIELD BUREAU
Saturday, Mar. 31 2007

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Electricity provider Ameren, which is fighting to stop a
proposed rate freeze in the Illinois Legislature, has been a generous political
donor in recent months to two lawmakers who have been most instrumental in
preventing a rate freeze so far, records show.

That push for a rate freeze faltered again Friday, when the state Senate
adjourned for its two-week Easter break without voting on bill that would have
imposed a one-year rate reduction.

State Sen. James Clayborne, D-Belleville, a key rate freeze opponent, has
reported receiving $6,500 in donations from Ameren since January, according to
a Post-Dispatch analysis of campaign records. That's far more than the utility
has given to any other Illinois official this year. It's also more than
Clayborne got from Ameren in any previous year.

Clayborne has been at the forefront of the rate hike debate this year, leading
closed-door negotiations between the utilities and their critics to find a way
to ease the impact of the rate hikes without freezing rates.

Records also show that Senate President Emil Jones, D-Chicago — who has
declined to allow a Senate vote on a three-year rate freeze measure passed by
the House — got $25,000 in donations from the utility during one month last
fall, as the rate freeze debate was heating up. That's more than Jones had
received from Ameren in the previous five years combined.

Jones and Clayborne both have said they believe freezing the electric rates of
Ameren and ComEd would drive the utilities into bankruptcy and ultimately raise
costs to consumers. With the public and many lawmakers clamoring for
legislation to roll back and freeze rates, Clayborne's negotiating group has
been focused on a compromise that would instead have the utilities give refunds
to residents.

There are no limits on campaign contributions in Illinois and no restriction on
donors from giving money to politicians while lobbying them on issues.

On Friday, Clayborne expressed surprise at the campaign data, saying he hadn't
been aware of the Ameren donations. He noted that, although he opposes the
concept of a rate freeze, he voted to get a rate freeze bill out of committee.
He also noted the agreement he has been negotiating won't be cheap for the
utility.

"Hopefully, we will have a settlement, and there will be millions and millions
of dollars that will come from Ameren" to ratepayers, Clayborne said.

While details of the potential agreement haven't been publicized, sources say
it would probably involve the parent companies of Ameren and ComEd, as well as
other power generators, paying more than $100 million to the hardest-hit
customers this year to offset the impact of the higher electric rates.

In exchange for that relief, sources have said, the agreement would avoid a
legislative rate freeze.

Jones, as Senate president, has almost unilaterally stalled the rate freeze
juggernaut by refusing so far to allow a floor vote on a freeze.

Campaign records show Jones received $25,000 from Ameren in two political
donations in October 2006. That one-month total constitutes more than half the
$49,000 that Jones has received from the utility since 1998, the earliest
available electronic records.

"There's absolutely no connection — no connection — between contributions and
legislation," said Jones spokeswoman Cindy Davidsmeyer.

David Kolata, spokesman for the Citizens' Utility Board and a chief critic of
the utilities, alleged the contributions are an attempt to derail a rate
freeze. "Ameren is pulling out all the stops," he said.

Ameren spokesman Leigh Morris denied the donations were an attempt to sway
decisions. "We make contributions to candidates who … are most likely to share
our views and the views of our customers," he said.

Electric rates from Ameren and ComEd jumped dramatically on Jan. 2, the result
of deregulation after a nine-year rate freeze. The utilities say the hikes are
the natural result of almost a decade of artificially low rates, but critics
say the new rates are unjustified.

Ameren, which serves the Metro East area, came under especially harsh criticism
after it quietly ended a special lower rate that had been in place for decades
for the owners of all-electric homes, hitting some of them with what amounted
to rate increases of more than 100 percent.

Sen. Gary Forby, D-Benton, is pushing a bill for a one-year rate freeze that
was expected to come to a Senate floor vote before the spring break adjournment
Friday but didn't. The deadline to consider that bill was supposed to be
Friday, but all Senate deadlines have been extended, so the bill could still be
called for a vote later in April.

The bill is SB1592.

kmcdermott@post-dispatch.com | 217-782-4912