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   Another line of storms is pushing through the St. Louis area as of 7:00 a.m. Monday. Severe storms that pushed through the St. Louis metro area early Monday morning brought strong winds and lightning.  The storms caused scattered power outages that plunged thousands of residents into the dark.

   As of 7:05 a.m., about  88-hundred people are without power on the Missouri  side of the river with about half in St. Louis County and another 19-hundred in the Metro East-mainly in St. Clair County.

Ameren has set up a memorial fund for one of their line workers who died last week. Dave Burns was electrocuted while performing repairs in the wake of the Hazelwood tornado.

Donations can be sent to the following fund:

In Memory of Dave Burns Fund 

Vantage Credit Union 

P.O. Box 4433 

Bridgeton, Mo. 63044

 

Sympathy cards and/or letters of condolence can be sent to:

Baue Funeral Home 

Attn: Ryan Burns 

3950 W. Clay St. 

St. Charles, Mo. 63301

   With another line of potentially severe weather expected to push through the metro-area Thursday, Ameren has place crews on both sides of the river on stand-by.  Ameren officials say they've mobilized personnel and equipment to facilitate their response to any storm-related power outages.  

   But Ameren officials say there are some things customers who lose power during the storms need to do.  First, officials say, report the outage.  Don't assume the power company knows your lights are out.

   Second, they remind customers to stay away from downed power lines and always assume that any lines that have fallen are still live wires.  Report the downed lines immediately.

   They say to stay out of the way of power company crews who are working to repair lines and restore power.

   And finally, they ask customers to be patient.  Crews will get repairs made as quickly as they can do so safely.

   More tips can be found at Ameren's online Outage Center. 

Sad news as crews continue to cleanup efforts in North County.

An Ameren lineman died today while working to restore power in St. Ann. Reports are the worker, an 18 year veteran, came in contact with a live wire and was electrocuted.

St Louis based utility Ameren Corporation is getting rid of its troubled Illinois power generating business.

They claim dumping the Illinois coal plants will reduce business risk, improve earnings and strengthen its balance sheet. Ameren executives say the company will focus on its utilities and the expansion of its transmission system.

Dynegy Inc. will buy the five Ameren coal-fired power plants representing more than 4,100 megawatts of generating capacity as well as Ameren’s power marketing business.

Ameren will receive no cash in the deal, but it will benefit by offloading $825 million of debt tied to the generating business. The company said it will also realize $180 million in tax benefits.

Ameren doesn't need an infrastructure surcharge. That's according to consumer advocacy groups which point to the utility's own financial data as proof.

The Consumer Council, a nonprofit consumer advocacy group, is arguing against passage of Missouri Senate Bill 207 that would allow Ameren to establish a surcharge in order to generate millions of dollars for infrastructure improvements.

Consumer groups argue that the extra revenue isn't needed since the utility earned well above it's authorized return limits in 2012. They also point to a $263 million rate increase that took effect in January.

Ameren officials say the higher than expected profits last year were due to unusual circumstances, like the extra-hot summer, and weren't enough to cover needed infrastructure improvements.

They're back in their homes, but residents of an Edwardsville apartment complex have no heat after a gas main rupture Monday afternoon.

Crews were working to move cable and telephone lines hit the Ameren gas line along north Main Street, causing gas to build up under the street and in the basement of the nearby apartment complex. Electricity to that building was disconnected as a precaution.

Crews drilled through the sidewalk to reach the break and cap it. Residents were allowed to return home, but had no gas service.

Opponents of a plan to build a 400 acre coal ash landfill near the Missouri River are still trying to block it.

A circuit court judge had ruled last month that the Franklin County Commission acted lawfully when it approved zoning changes allowing the development of the landfill. Ameren Missouri has since filed for a permit to build the coal ash landfill next to its Labadie power plant.

But the Labadie Environmental Organization is now appealing the court's decision.