By Laurie Burstein
Tom Voss wants people to know that AmerenUE listens, responds and delivers. Those are the watchwords of the company’s pledge to bring its customers reliable energy at the lowest cost.
As president and CEO of UE, Voss says the pledge to
connect Missouri by providing reliable power, dedicated customer service and vision for the future is about more than hundreds of millions of dollars the company is investing to improve reliability.
“We listened to our customers’ concerns about our system’s performance during severe weather events. As a result, we are responding with more aggressive tree trimming, increased circuit inspections, building a more robust design, and burying lines where appropriate,” Voss says. “All of these actions will make the St. Louis metropolitan area a better place to live and work.”
Project Power On
After the severe storms in 2006 and 2007, both UE and Ameren’s Illinois utility companies were challenged to make its systems more resistant to bad weather conditions. Customers told the company that they valued reliability above everything else, and last
year UE launched the Power On Project, a
$1 billion initiative. This is the largest reliability initiative in UE’s history and the largest single corporate investment currently in Missouri.
Improving reliability is mission one says Gary Rainwater, chairman, president and CEO of Ameren Corporation. “Through Power On, we have improved reliability for thousands of customers in Missouri.”
Rainwater adds that on the first anniversary of the program, Ameren invested $40 million in 70 completed line undergrounding projects; added 40 miles of new underground cables; launched 58 more undergrounding projects with another 350 projects in the pipeline; trimmed 6,516 miles of line; inspected 8,000 miles of line; and tested 95,000 wood utility poles. More improvements are on the way including a $500 million investment in equipment to reduce emissions at the company’s Sioux Power Plant.
AmerenUE Today
AmerenUE has been in Missouri for over 100 years and today serves 1.2 million electric and 127,000 natural gas customers. Ameren Corporation, through its utility companies, serves 2.4 million electric and nearly one million natural gas customers throughout Missouri and parts of Illinois. A large employer in the region, Ameren has 9,200 employees, with 2,000 in the downtown headquarters.
There are a few more facts Voss point outs. Ameren provides service at rates
40 percent below the national average and nearly 25 percent below other electric utilities in Missouri. He adds that except for a
2 percent increase in 2007, UE has not had a rate increase in 20 years.
Rainwater adds, “With St. Louis’ electric rates being the lowest of any major metropolitan city, we have succeeded on a cost basis. With our new focus on reliability, I believe we are near succeeding in terms of service. However, customers don’t want near-perfect service, they want flawless power quality, so the challenge is to meet customers ever-higher service expectations.”
To meet those expectations, the company is asking for a rate increase to continue improvements and cover rising costs.
Voss says the company doesn’t ask for the increase lightly and that it will amount to a little less than $9 more per month for the average household. About 70 percent of the increase will go directly to projects at the company’s generating plants for fuel and improvements to delivery systems, and the rest will be used to carry out the initiatives for increased tree trimming, burying power lines and repair and maintenance.
“Our rates now are actually cheaper than they were in 1990,” Voss says. “This current rate increase is driven by increasing fuel costs and by our need to recover the investment we are making to insure better reliability.”
Voss and Rainwater have a long history with Ameren and of working together. The two first met when Rainwater joined the company almost 30 years ago. Voss’ first and only job has been with Ameren—40 years with the company altogether.
Of their working relationship Rainwater says, “Tom and I talk daily and have open, candid discussions about the company and our industry. I value his opinion and find him both strategic and perceptive. Tom has joined me in leading the way toward a values-based culture and in working with others in management to define our vision of performance excellence.”
After 40 years, what keeps Voss excited about coming to work each day? “I enjoy the challenge of serving our 1.2 million customers every day and facing rising customer expectations, while responding to the challenge of providing a 24-hour service that is critical to the needs of our modern society.”
Green Power
In another move to give customers what they want, Ameren has put renewable energy initiatives on the front burner. “Our customers told us that they want renewable energy in Missouri, and we are investing in wind power and other renewable sources, as well as in technologies to address green house gas emissions,” Voss says.
UE’s new Pure Power program is an example of the company’s plans to promote renewable energy. Pure Power is a voluntary renewable energy program, providing residential customers the option to add an extra 1.5 cents per kilowatt-hour to their monthly bills, offsetting 100 percent of their energy usage with clean, renewable energy credits.
Commercial and industrial customers, like Monsanto, Express Scripts and the City of Clayton, have signed up to participate by buying “blocks” of Pure Power, paying $15 a month for each 1,000 kilowatt-hours used. Pure Power funds are then used to purchase renewable energy certificates from qualified wind farms.
Voss is proud that The United States Department of Energy named UE’s Pure Power program the most successful New Green Power Program of the year.
“We want to give customers options and the Pure Power program is a choice they now have. We survey our customers every month. In our communications with our customers, we find that reliability and clean air are two huge things, along with energy independence and conservation. The Pure Power program is one way we are trying to give our customers what they are asking for,” Voss says.
Diversity Matters
Switching gears, Voss talks about diversity and how it has always been an important issue for both Ameren and himself. He says that about five years ago, Ameren undertook a major diversity initiative which is still very important today.
“We established a diversity council about five or six years ago to represent a cross-section of people from union and contract workers to management. The council’s goal is to look at diversity from all angles,” Voss explains.
He continues, “We look at diversity from a very broad perspective. It’s not just women and minorities, but also those with different backgrounds and experience. We think that if we put different people together who have different ways of looking at things, we will be a better company. It makes good business sense and is an investment in our future.”
UE has been recognized every year with various awards for its diversity training and programs from organizations, including The Urban League, the Anti-Defamation League and the Minority Business Council. The company has a diversity department directed by Sharon Harvey Davis, an experienced leader in diversity issues.
Diversity Consultant Charles Lee has worked with Ameren on diversity issues for the past eight years. Lee says Ameren has worked hard to create their own diversity footprint and develop internal and external programs that are unique.
Lee also says that many of these programs are implemented system-wide, not just in the St. Louis headquarters. One such program is Diversity Day, where each department celebrates the cultures of different employees with food, personal items, fashion, language, etc.
Lee says Voss has been a real champion of diversity at Ameren. “Tom truly values diversity. He understands that people need to be appreciated as individuals and recognized for their differences. He is a man of great integrity and character.”
In fact, Lee says that an annual diversity award has been named for Voss. Employees can nominate candidates for this award to recognize those who have made a difference in diversity at the company.
The company has long supported many local community and cultural organizations with an annual charitable giving budget of $5 million. Some of the cultural and minority organizations UE helps support include Mathews-Dickey Boys & Girls Club, the St. Louis Black Repertory Company, the Urban League, Komen Race for the Cure, the Salvation Army, and The Variety Club among others. The company is also a big supporter of United Way, with $3 million in corporate and employee donations during the most recent campaign. The company’s 2008 United Way campaign ended in mid-October with employees pledging more than
$1.8 million—or 113 percent of the campaign’s
$1.6 million goal.
Voss is also proud of the many employees at Ameren who volunteer their time in organizations such as Habitat for Humanity, serve on advisory boards of many different organizations, and act as mentors at schools that prepare students for skilled trade positions.
Recently the company announced it would provide $130,000 for 10 annual scholarships at St. Louis Community College for engineering technology students.
Voss sits on the boards of the Urban League, the RCGA, and The Muny Board. A big supporter of the arts, Voss has been very involved with Dance St. Louis for the last 10 years, serving as their president for four years and currently chairman of the board.
What’s Ahead
Voss shares some parting thoughts on the company and where it is headed. “We’ve been in business for 100 years, and we intend to be here for the next 100 years. Electricity is a very complex resource, and I get great satisfaction when we overcome difficulties and give people good service. I also get very frustrated when we let people down.”
He continues, “As the provider of this critical resource, UE has a special connection to the communities we serve. Our goal has always been to have not only the best rates, but the best service. We want people to know that UE has dedicated,
talented, and diverse employees who truly care about our customers, our communities, and our company. We listen. We respond. We deliver.”
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