Chama St. Louis, a community organizer, small business owner, and advocate, provides testimony on behalf of the Environmental Defense Fund to share how rising utility costs and inadequate customer assistance programs have affected her family, business, and the broader Peoria community. Drawing on her personal experiences with energy insecurity, she explains that high and unpredictable Ameren bills, limited access to assistance, and inefficient rental housing place significant financial strain on working families, particularly low-income households and Black and Brown communities already facing economic challenges after the COVID-19 pandemic.

St. Louis urges the Illinois Commerce Commission to consider the real-world impacts of utility rate increases when evaluating Ameren’s proposals. She recommends stronger affordability measures, including income-based utility pricing, expanded direct customer assistance, more flexible payment options for small businesses, and greater investment in community solar and workforce development programs that create local clean energy jobs and ensure underserved communities share in the benefits of the energy transition.