ST. LOUIS – Ameren wants customers to pay more for their electricity. On Thursday, locals can have their say on Ameren’s major rate hike request.

There are two opportunities Thursday to weigh in on Ameren’s proposal. The utility wants a rate hike totaling $316 million. That means the average customer will pay some 1$2 more a month, or just under $150 more annually.

Ameren first filed the rate hike request last august. If approved by the Missouri Public Service Commission, the hike would increase Ameren’s revenues by 11.6%. This move comes after a separate $220 million rate increase from Ameren went into effect in February of last year.

Critics are speaking out against the price tag of Ameren’s latest rate hike proposal.

FOX 2’s Post-Dispatch partners reported that critics say Ameren should not be able to recover costs and profits associated with the company’s coal-fired power plants, it’s political lobbying efforts, its legal costs related to clean air act violations, and using customer rates to help fund charitable donations.

Ameren released a statement to the post saying the rate hike will pay for “major upgrades to system reliability and resiliency, as well as investments to support our transition to cleaner energy.”

The statement goes on to read, “We understand that there is no good time to adjust electric rates, and we’re committed to do what we can to keep rates as low as possible by spending wisely and cutting costs.”

The Missouri Public Service Commission is hosting two public hearings Thursday. The first is at noon at the S. Charles County Administrative building on North 3rd Street. The PSC staff will give out information and host a question-and-answer session.

The second hearing will be at 6:00 p.m. at the Florissant Valley campus of the St. Louis Community College. That will be a similar format to the St. Charles hearing.