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Is Ameren Power Smart Pricing Worth It in 2026? Last October Averaged 3.5¢, but One Peak Hour Can Erase the Savings
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Is Ameren Power Smart Pricing Worth It in 2026? Last October Averaged 3.5¢, but One Peak Hour Can Erase the Savings

Ryan Cook••

Ameren Power Smart Pricing can beat the standard rate this fall. Its posted hourly prices averaged 3.50¢ per kilowatt-hour last October, and Ameren's standard energy charge starting October 1, 2026 is 7.310¢ for the first 800 kWh. But whether it pays off for your house depends on a second number most people never hear about. That number is how much power you're pulling during the single busiest hour on Ameren's system each month. Hourly customers pay transmission on that one hour, about $10.37 per kilowatt for a 30-day month, instead of 2.765¢ on every kWh.

That gives you two tests. Can you buy most of your energy in cheap hours? And can you keep your house quiet when the whole region is pulling its hardest? I pulled every hourly price Ameren posted from October 2025 through February 2026, plus July and September 2026, and read the tariff sheets behind the program. Here's what they show.

The key numbers

Item Figure Effective
Standard (BGS-1) energy charge, summer 8.200¢/kWh June 1 – Sept 30, 2026
Standard (BGS-1) energy charge, non-summer 7.310¢ first 800 kWh, 5.131¢ above October 2026
Power Smart Pricing supplier (capacity) charge 2.803¢/kWh in summer; 0.306¢ on the first 800 kWh and 0¢ above in October Sept. and Oct. 2026 rate sheets
Charges added to the posted hourly price 0.033¢ ancillary services + 0.004¢ market settlement October 2026
Transmission, standard rate 2.765¢/kWh Effective June 2026
Transmission, hourly customers $0.34582 per kW per day, on your load at the monthly system-peak hour (about $10.37 per kW for 30 days) Effective June 2026
Participation charge $2.25 per month Tariff effective Jan 17, 2025
Rejoin lockout after leaving 12 months Tariff effective Jan 17, 2025
Average posted hourly price, October 2025 3.50¢ all hours; 2.61¢ midnight–6 a.m. Oct 1–31, 2025
Average posted hourly price, July 2026 6.78¢ all hours; 3.03¢ midnight–6 a.m.; 14.55¢ 3–8 p.m. July 1–31, 2026
Worst days last winter 36.08¢ and 40.92¢ daily averages Jan 24 and 25, 2026

The hourly averages are my own math from the prices Ameren publishes on its Power Smart Pricing chart. They're simple averages of posted prices, not anyone's actual bill. Past prices don't predict this winter's prices.

Test one: the energy price

On the standard rate, Ameren bundles energy and capacity into one number. On Power Smart Pricing, the bundle gets split. You pay the posted hourly price plus two small market charges, and a separate supplier charge that covers capacity.

That supplier charge swings hard by season. In summer it was 2.803¢ on every kWh, so the hours you bought in had to average under about 5.4¢ to beat the 8.200¢ standard charge. In October it drops to 0.306¢ on your first 800 kWh and zero above that. The break-even rises to about 7.0¢ on the first 800 kWh. Above 800 kWh it's about 5.1¢, because the standard charge falls to 5.131¢ there.

Last fall, the hourly market cleared those bars easily. Posted prices averaged 3.50¢ in October 2025, 3.78¢ in November, and 4.35¢ in December. Only 37 of October's 744 hours were priced above 7.0¢. Even the worst October stretch, the 5-to-7 p.m. hours, averaged only about 7.1¢.

Summer is a different animal. July 2026 averaged 6.78¢ across all hours and about 20¢ from 6 to 8 p.m. On July 15, the 7-to-8 p.m. hour posted at 89.88¢. September 1–29, 2026 averaged 5.86¢, with the 3-to-8 p.m. block at 12.88¢.

Test two: the peak-hour transmission charge

This is the part most write-ups skip. Ameren's transmission tariff bills hourly customers in dollars per kilowatt per day. It's applied to your load at the time of the peak system load in each billing period. The tariff doesn't say which hour that will be in advance. It's whichever hour Ameren's system is pulling hardest that month. Ameren's own program page says heat waves and prolonged freezes drive demand up, so expect that hour to land in one of them.

Here's a quick rule from the numbers. For a 30-day month, hourly transmission costs about $10.37 for each kilowatt your house draws in that hour. Standard transmission costs 2.765¢ on every kWh you use. Divide your monthly kWh by 375. If your house draws less than that many kilowatts at the system peak, hourly transmission costs you less. If it draws more, you pay more.

Monthly use Standard transmission Break-even load at the peak hour
750 kWh $20.74 2.0 kW
1,000 kWh $27.65 2.7 kW
1,500 kWh $41.48 4.0 kW

My rough estimates: a gas-heated house on a mild fall evening might sit around 1 to 2 kW. A house with central air running full tilt on the hottest afternoon of July can pull well over 3 kW. A house with electric resistance heat on a subzero morning can pull several times that.

ComEd handles this differently. ComEd bills hourly customers a capacity charge based on their own usage during past peak hours. Ameren spreads capacity across all hourly customers as a flat per-kWh charge, but it makes transmission personal. I covered ComEd's version in my breakdown of ComEd's time-of-day and hourly options.

Three households, run through both tests

These are my estimates. They use posted prices from past months and the 2026–27 rate sheets, and they leave out delivery and taxes, which are the same on both rates.

An EV owner with gas heat, in an October like last year's. Say 900 kWh a month, with 300 kWh of overnight EV charging at last October's 2.61¢ overnight average. The rest of the usage is spread across the day at 3.50¢. Energy runs an estimated $32 on Power Smart Pricing against $64 on the standard rate. If the house draws 1.5 kW at the monthly peak, transmission is about $16 against $25. Net, after the $2.25 fee: roughly $39 a month saved. At 3 kW during the peak hour, the savings shrink to about $22. For more on the car side, see what it costs to charge an EV at home in Illinois.

A central-air house in July. Say 1,100 kWh with usage spread around the clock at July's 6.78¢ average, and 3.5 kW at the peak hour. Energy runs about $106 against $90. Transmission is about $38 against $30. Net: an estimated $25 behind for the month, and more if the AC load is concentrated in the late afternoon.

An electric-heat house in a January like 2026. Say 2,500 kWh at January's 9.36¢ all-hours average, and 8 kW at the peak hour. Energy runs about $237 against $146, and transmission is about $86 against $69. That's an estimated $110 behind in one month. That January average was dragged up by the late-January freeze. Six straight days, January 24 through 29, averaged over 21¢, and on January 24 the cheapest hour was 29.25¢. There was no cheap hour to shift into.

The catch: you can't just do fall

Fall is clearly the sweet spot, and Ameren itself says savings tend to be lower in summer and higher when the weather cools. The problem is the exit door. There's no minimum stay, but if you leave Power Smart Pricing, you can't rejoin an Ameren hourly rate for 12 months. Hopping on in October and off in June doesn't work. You're choosing for the whole year, including the next heat wave and the next freeze.

If you have solar, or you're thinking about it

On an hourly rate, Ameren's net metering tariff values your exported power at the price for the hour you produced it. Transmission credits on those exports are figured as if you were on the standard rate, so that part is a wash. The difference is the energy price. Rooftop systems export mostly from late morning to mid-afternoon. Those hours averaged 5.60¢ in July 2026 and 2.90¢ in October 2025. On the standard rate, that same kilowatt-hour offsets energy priced at 8.200¢ in summer or 7.310¢ this fall.

For most solar homes, that makes the standard rate the better pairing. The exception is a battery that soaks up midday solar and covers the evening hours, when summer prices run highest.

There's a bigger point underneath all this. Power Smart Pricing is a way to play defense inside a volatile market. The standard rate rides that same market with a delay, which is a big part of why Ameren bills keep climbing. Solar is how you step partly out of it. The lease programs we work with run as low as $0.10/kWh with a predictable 25-year rate schedule that's set in your contract before you sign, battery included. You can see current Ameren numbers on our Ameren rates page, learn how to check the supply lines on your Ameren bill, or run your own house through the savings calculator.

What I'd do

Enroll if you heat with gas, can run the EV, dryer and dishwasher overnight, and don't have central air pinned on during summer afternoons. That profile passes both tests most of the year. Skip it if you have electric resistance heat. If you're thinking about a heat pump, run the gas-vs-heat-pump math first, because an all-electric house changes your winter peak. And if you do enroll, treat the hottest afternoons and coldest mornings as the hours to keep the house quiet.

One last thing most people don't know. Every Ameren residential customer already pays for this program. The tariff builds an $0.08 monthly Power Smart Pricing charge into everyone's customer charge, whether you enroll or not.

Want a second set of eyes on your bill before you switch? Call or text (618) 217-2001, or send it through our contact page. I'll tell you what I'd do, even if the answer is "stay put."

Sources

Frequently Asked Questions

It's worth it for homes with gas heat and flexible usage, and it's a gamble for homes with central air running all afternoon or electric heat. Starting October 1, 2026, Ameren's standard energy charge is 7.310 cents for the first 800 kilowatt-hours. Last October, Power Smart Pricing's posted hourly prices averaged 3.50 cents. But hourly customers also pay transmission differently. Instead of 2.765 cents on every kilowatt-hour, they pay about $10.37 per kilowatt of load during the single busiest hour on Ameren's system each month, over a 30-day month. A house pulling 3 kilowatts at that hour pays about $31 for transmission. My worked example for an EV-and-gas-heat home shows an estimated $22 to $39 saved in an October like last year's. A central-air home in July came out an estimated $25 behind. Ameren says participation is not a guarantee of savings.
Power Smart Pricing replaces Ameren's standard supply rate with a price that changes every hour. The prices come from the wholesale market run by the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) and are set the night before. Ameren posts the next day's 24 hourly prices each evening after 5 p.m., and you can hear them by calling 1-877-655-6028. You need a smart meter, and you stay an Ameren supply customer. On top of the hourly price, you pay a supplier charge that covers capacity: 2.803 cents per kilowatt-hour in summer, and 0.306 cents on your first 800 kilowatt-hours in October 2026. Add a $2.25 monthly participation charge. Transmission changes too. It's billed on your kilowatt load at the monthly system-peak hour, not per kilowatt-hour. There's no minimum stay, but if you leave, you can't rejoin an Ameren hourly rate for 12 months.
Ameren's posted Power Smart Pricing hourly prices averaged 10.24 cents per kilowatt-hour on January 23, 36.08 cents on January 24, and 40.92 cents on January 25, 2026. The single highest hour in that stretch was 67.81 cents, in the last hour of January 24. The lowest hour on January 24 was still 29.25 cents, which means there was nowhere to hide. Shifting laundry to 2 a.m. did nothing that weekend. The high prices lasted all week. January 26 averaged 30.15 cents, and January 27 and 28 both averaged close to 29 cents. For scale, a home with electric heat using an estimated 80 kilowatt-hours a day would have run up roughly $62 in hourly energy charges across January 24 and 25 alone, before the supplier charge, transmission, delivery, or taxes. Ameren's own program page warns that prolonged freezes tend to drive up hourly prices.
It works, but it usually pays solar owners less for their extra power. Under Ameren's net metering tariff, a customer on an hourly rate has exported kilowatt-hours valued at the price in effect during the hour they were produced. Transmission credits on those exports are figured the same way they would be on the standard rate, so the difference comes down to the energy price. Solar panels export the most from late morning through mid-afternoon. Ameren's posted prices for the 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. hours averaged 5.60 cents in July 2026 and 2.90 cents in October 2025. The standard energy charge is 8.200 cents in summer and 7.310 cents on the first 800 kilowatt-hours from October 2026. So the hours when a rooftop system produces its surplus are mostly hours when the hourly price sits well below the standard rate. A battery that holds solar power for the evening hours changes that math.

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