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It’s a move that Ameren Missouri’s founders couldn’t have possibly imagined more than a century ago: Utility officials on Friday proposed spending $145 million over three years to reduce electricity use.

The filing comes three months after Ameren made deep and widely criticized cuts to its existing efficiency programs, saying they penalized shareholders by not compensating the company for lost energy sales.

The program proposed on Friday would more than double what Ameren Missouri was spending on energy efficiency before the cuts, and promises to save its customers 800 million kilowatt-hours a year, an amount of equal to the energy use of 60,000 homes.

Of course, energy efficiency programs aren’t free — and Ameren wants ratepayers to finance them. From 2013 through the end of 2015, Ameren would collect the cost of implementing the plan through a surcharge on customer bills that would equal a rate increase of a little more than 3 percent, said Warren Wood, the utility’s vice president of legislative and regulatory affairs.

But all of Ameren’s 1.2 million customers will benefit from a reduction in energy use, Wood said.

“This filing aligns the business interests of the utilities and their customers,” he said.

The Public Service Commission has 120 days to review Ameren’s proposal. If approved, it would take effect in January 2013.

The plan is the first filed by St. Louis-based Ameren under the Missouri Energy Efficiency Investment Act. The law, signed by Gov. Jay Nixon in 2009, was designed to encourage reductions in energy use by allowing utilities to earn the same profit on energy efficiency investments that they do on investments in power plants, poles and wires. The PSC, utilities and other groups have spent the past two years debating rules to implement the law.

Ameren spent $70 million on efficiency from 2009 to 2011, helping customers save more than 550 million kilowatt-hours. But the those efforts led to $26.4 million in losses, according to Wood. That amount will grow to $60 million by 2014 — the reason why Ameren killed many of the rebates and other incentives at the end of September to the chagrin of energy efficiency advocates.

Wood explained the problem like this: Every time a customer pays their electric bill, some of the money is used to pay for variable costs like coal and other fuel used to run power plants. Another piece goes to cover fixed costs like poles, wires and substations — infrastructure that’s needed regardless of how many electrons flow through the grid.

When electricity demand declines, so does revenue, including that portion that goes to cover fixed costs. Friday’s proposal would compensate Ameren for that lost revenue while still producing tangible benefits for consumers, he said.

Efficiency and consumer advocates hadn’t read through all of the hundreds of pages that Ameren filed as of Friday afternoon.

While they would welcome an increase in efficiency spending in Ameren’s plan, they said they need to analyze the details before endorsing or opposing the plan.

“Are they seeking to be overcompensated (for efficiency investments)? Are they overreaching?” asked Lewis Mills Jr., Missouri’s Public Counsel. “That’s my biggest concern.”

Rebecca Stanfield of the Natural Resources Defense Council’s Chicago office said it’s time for Ameren, regulators, and consumer and environmental groups to make energy efficiency work in Missouri.

“We’ve had three years of positioning and brinksmanship on this issue,” she said. “All of the parties need to recognize that there’s tremendous value in what can be created with these programs. Lets look at the big picture of what we could achieve if they are successful.”

No one disputes that energy efficiency must be a significant part of the state’s energy policy. That includes Ameren, which has identified efficiency as the cheapest way to meet energy demand in the future.

Missouri has long been dependent on relatively cheap coal to meet its electricity needs. But prices for the fuel and cost of hauling it from mines in Wyoming have been increasing. And new environmental regulations aimed at cutting back on air and water pollution from coal-fired power plants are certain to lead to further increases.

The state also continues to lag behind most others when it comes to policies to reduce energy use. The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy ranks Missouri 44th in the nation for energy efficiency.

In Illinois, meanwhile, utilities are increasing spending on energy efficiency programs. That includes Ameren’s sister utility, which sells electricity to customers across much of central and southern Illinois.

Ameren Illinois will spend $78 million this year on discounts and rebates for energy saving lighting and appliances to its 1.2 million electric customers and 800,000 gas customers.

One key difference is that Illinois has an energy efficiency standard. The law requires Ameren and the state’s other investor-owned utility, ComEd, to cut energy use by 25 percent from 2007 levels by 2025.

Without a mandate, Missouri utilities must be willing to aggressively push efficiency programs on their own. How to get them do that has been a contentious issue.

Mills, the main advocate for consumers on utility issues, realizes some Ameren customers may chafe at the idea of seeing bills go up, at least initially, to pay for energy efficiency programs.

But energy efficiency can benefit all consumers — even those who don’t take advantage of rebates and other incentives — by lowering statewide energy use, Mills said. That can help utilities defer or avoid building new power plants or running more expensive plants when electricity demand spikes.

“While it looks like rates are going to be going up,” he said, “they’re going to be going up more if we don’t do this.”

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Federal monitors said this week they have found more evidence that Monsanto’s genetically engineered corn is failing to kill the insects it is designed to repel.

The US Environmental Protection Agency posted a report this week saying that corn rootworm — a major agricultural pest — is damaging Monsanto’s corn. 

This summer researchers said they found evidence of problems in cornfields in Iowa and Illinois. The agency said this week, they also have found evidence of corn rootworm damage in Minnesota and Nebraska, and called Monsanto’s monitoring of the problem “inadequate.”

Researchers, in lab settings, have found evidence that the pests are growing resistant to a protein that is genetically engineered into the plants and designed to kill the pests after they consume it.

Monsanto issued a statement saying it takes the report “seriously and remains committed to working with farmers to encourage the adoption of integrated pest management practices when managing high rootworm populations on farm.”

Monsanto did not provide a company representative for an interview, but has said in a previous interview that the problem seems to be confined only to fields with high insect pressure.  The company also says there is no “scientific confirmation” that the pest is developing resistance to the protein.

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U.S. battery maker Johnson Controls is at odds with Shanghai’s environmental regulator over tests the company says show it was not responsible for severe lead poisoning cases in children discovered earlier this year.

The Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based company said Wednesday that an investigation by the China Electric Equipment Industry Association found its battery factory in Shanghai’s eastern suburbs was not the cause of elevated blood-lead levels among children in a nearby community. Instead, it pinned blame on a recycling facility in the area.

Shanghai Environment Bureau official Ju Chunfang, who participated in testing the Johnson Control plant, questioned the investigation, saying it was not independent. Ju said the bureau began another investigation of its own last week.

Johnson Controls denied Ju’s contention that the company had agreed it was the largest source of lead emissions in the area.

Local officials insisted the plant, which is much larger than other battery factories in the area, had to be the cause of the poisoning cases. In an interview, Ju cited several instances of occasionally high emissions readings and prevailing wind patterns as the reason for that allegation.

Xia Qing, the scientist who led the probe cited by Johnson Controls, said it was commissioned by the Electric Equipment Industry Association and was not paid for by the battery maker.

The tests showed abnormally high lead levels at a waste recycling facility near the community whose children were poisoned, with lead levels three times the current national standard and 10 times a pending stricter national standard. Zinc levels were 15 times national standards.

“I have three conclusions. First, trust the Chinese environmental protection laws. Second, the lead poisonings were not caused by Johnson Controls. And third, pay more attention to the recycling stations and companies,” said Xia, an engineer with the China Research Academy of Environmental Science.

Soaring use of cars and electric scooters is driving strong demand for lead acid batteries, and their production and recycling are a key source of lead contamination.

China shut down hundreds of battery factories last spring after a slew of lead poisoning cases. Many have remained shut.

The lead contamination drew attention after families living in Kanghua New Village, a small block of apartment buildings erected to house farm families moved to make way for an industrial zone, said checks showed many of their children had abnormally high blood lead levels no fax payday loan.

The Johnson Controls factory suspended production in September after it reached its annual quota for lead use. The plant has sought permission to expand production, but local environmental officials say such requests will not be approved due to concerns over lead emissions.

Johnson Controls says it intends to resume production in January at the factory, which has an annual capacity of 2.5 million batteries.

“We’ve called our employees back. We’re pretty excited,” said Alex Molinaroli, president of Johnson Controls Power Solutions.

“The results corroborate our own data and prove that emissions from our battery plant could not be the cause of elevated blood-lead levels found in the community,” he said.

Johnson Controls, a major supplier to the automotive industry, had insisted all along that its plant’s emission controls would have prevented any significant contamination.

Production at a second, smaller battery plant in the area had also been stopped.

Kanghua is located just north of the zone and close to chemical, battery and electronics equipment factories.

Johnson Controls earlier said its factory has lead emissions at about one-seventh the Chinese national standard. Employees are regularly tested to ensure their blood lead levels remain low enough.

Some experts say that over time they expect use of lead-acid batteries to be phased out in favor of less toxic and more efficient charging methods, such as lithium-ion batteries and fuel cells.

But such changes could take decades.

Despite its difficulties over the Shanghai plant, the company is expanding in China, with annual capacity due to rise to 10.5 million batteries next year with the addition of a new plant in Changqing. A third plant, under construction, will have a capacity of 6 million batteries, and the company is considering locations for a fourth plant.

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Researcher Fu Ting contributed to this report.

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A faster iPhone with better software and an improved camera went on sale Friday as hundreds of buyers camped out for hours to be among the first to get one.

About 200 people were at Apple’s Fifth Avenue store in Manhattan as the iPhone 4S went on sale at 8 a.m. Steve Wozniak, who created Apple with Steve Jobs in a Silicon Valley garage in 1976, was first in line at a store in Los Gatos, Calif.

Many said the event resembled a remembrance to Jobs, who died last week.

Emily Smith, a 27-year-old user experience designer in New York, checked in to the line on the location-centric social network Foursquare. She got a virtual Steve Jobs badge that read: “Here’s to the crazy ones. ThankYouSteve.”

Others joked that the 4S model stood “for Steve.”

Una Chen, a 24-year-old banker, said she was just happy to swap out her BlackBerry Bold for the new iPhone, particularly after a BlackBerry outage affected her phone this week.

“It’s not good to have a phone and not be able to use it,” Chen said.

Wozniak came out to the California store even though he already had two new phones on the way. He told television station NBC11 on Thursday that while he waited for the store’s opening Friday morning, he planned on getting caught up on his email and chatting with fans.

Sales were beginning at 8 a.m. in each time zone. They were available at Apple stores, along with those of the three partner carriers, AT&T Inc., Sprint Nextel Corp. and Verizon Wireless. Some Best Buy, Target and Walmart stores and authorized resellers also carried the phones.

The phones also debuted Friday in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan and Britain. They are coming to 22 more countries by the end of the month.

The base model of the iPhone 4S costs $199 with a two-year contract. Customers have a choice of white or black.

The phone _ Apple’s fifth _ has a faster processor and an improved camera compared with last year’s model. However, some customers and investors were disappointed that Apple didn’t launch a more radical new model. It’s been more than a year since Apple’s previous model was released.

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World stock markets regained some vitality Tuesday as investors hung hopes on action from the Federal Reserve to keep the U.S. from sliding back into recession.

Oil prices rose to near $86 a barrel as traders scaled back expectations that Libyan oil would be quickly restored to world markets as fighting raged in Tripoli between rebels and forces loyal to Gadhafi. The dollar weakened against the yen and the euro.

European shares were higher in early trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 1.5 percent to 5,171.26. Germany’s DAX gained 2.8 percent to 5,625.16 and France’s CAC-40 gained 2.7 percent to 3,132.43.

Wall Street was heading for a second straight day of gains, with Dow Jones industrial futures 1.4 percent higher at 10,997 and S&P 500 futures 1.7 percent higher at 1,142.10.

Global stocks have been volatile in recent weeks as investors swung between fears of a double-dip recession in the U.S. and hopes that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will announce some kind of action to help the economy during an annual economics conference in Wyoming on Friday.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 1.2 percent to close at 8,733.01 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 2 percent to 19,875.53. South Korea’s Kospi jumped 3.9 percent to 1,772.39.

Benchmarks in Singapore, Taiwan, India, Indonesia and the Philippines were also higher.

Chinese shares advanced for the first time in six trading sessions as investors bargain-hunted following the release of a survey suggesting better than expected manufacturing data for August.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose 1.5 percent 2,554.02 and the Shenzhen Composite Index added 1.8 percent to 1,144.05. Shares in cement and other building materials led the gains.

“A correction was due after investors overreacted to the selloffs in foreign markets days before, and also there was speculation that the manufacturing data could be better than earlier forecast,” said Cai Dagui, an analyst at Ping’an Securities, based in Shenzhen.

A “flash” manufacturing survey by HSBC showed Chinese output contracting, but improving from a 16-month low in July, rising to 49 fast cash advance.8 from 49.3 in July. The flash survey of purchasing managers includes 85 percent to 90 percent of the responses of a monthly survey on manufacturing trends that is usually released on the first of the month.

Investors also found relief in expectations that oil prices would fall if Libyan rebels gain complete control of the capital of Tripoli. A new government in Libya could clear the way for a return to oil production, which was halted six months ago amid a rebellion against the Gadhafi regime.

Falling oil prices also could help mitigate the effects of high inflation that has persisted across much of Asia, threatening growth prospects.

Rising metals prices, especially gold _ which ended Monday just shy of $1,900 an ounce _ boosted mining shares. Energy Resources of Australia Ltd. shot up 7.8 percent. Australia’s Fortescue Metals Group gained 4.1 percent. Zijin Mining Group Co., China’s biggest gold miner, rose 2.2 percent.

On Monday, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.3 percent to close at 10,854.65. The S&P 500 rose less than 0.1 percent to 1,123.82. The Nasdaq rose 0.2 percent to 2,345.38.

Bernanke’s speech Friday could have a major impact on markets, as it did last year when he hinted that the Fed was about to embark on a second round of bond buying known as quantitative easing to support financial markets and the economy.

The buying program ended in June. Some investors hope that Bernanke will reinstate bond purchases because of recent evidence of a weakening U.S. economy that triggered a stock market sell-off in August.

Benchmark oil for September delivery was up $1.46 to $85.88 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Crude rose $1.86 to settle at $84.12 on Monday.

In London, Brent crude for October delivery was up 15 cents per barrel to $108.57 on the ICE Futures exchange.

The euro rose to $1.4440 from $1.4373 late Monday in New York. The dollar weakened to 76.65 yen from 76.72 yen.

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OTTAWA

U.S. airlines have started rolling back last month’s fare increases, so passengers are likely to pay the same prices even though federal ticket taxes are being collected again.

Southwest Airlines Co. said Monday it cut fares back to where they were before July 23, when the taxes expired.

A spokesman for Delta Air Lines Inc. said his airline matched the move by Southwest and its AirTran Airways subsidiary. Industry observers said that they expect other airlines to do the same.

If that happens consumers will pay the same total price instead of seeing increases of around 10 percent on many tickets for travel within the U.S.

American Airlines and JetBlue Airways officials said they had lowered fares on some routes _ likely those where they compete with Southwest. Representatives for other airlines did not immediately comment.

Most U.S. airlines raised fares last month after a standoff between Republicans and Democrats in Congress on funding for the Federal Aviation Administration caused federal excise taxes on tickets to expire. In effect, the airlines grabbed the money that previously went to the government instead of passing the tax break to consumers.

Last week Congress revived the taxes through Sept. 16. The dispute forced the FAA to furlough 4,000 employees and stop work on airport projects that employed thousands of construction workers.

Bad news for workers was good news for the airlines. By raising fares to offset the expired taxes, airlines were able to pocket an estimated $400 million in just two weeks.

Rick Seaney, CEO of FareCompare.com, said Southwest and AirTran started rolling back the July fare increases on Sunday night and he expected other airlines to quickly do the same. Delta said it matched Southwest on Monday morning.

Tom Parsons, CEO of Bestfares.com, said the weak economy and stock market turmoil could force airlines to do more than just cancel last month’s fare hike.

“They have to be concerned over (travel demand in) the fall,” he said. “They may still have to bring fares down further.”

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Recent spills in China’s largest offshore oil field are being investigated, reports say.

The spills were in the Bohai Penglai 19-3 oil field in Bohai Bay off the northeast coast, said reports in the Southern Weekend and other newspapers. The field is a joint venture between China National Offshore Oil Corp. and ConocoPhillips China.

The State Oceanic Administration is investigating the spills and will announce results later this month, the reports said.

Calls to CNOOC, ConocoPhillips China and to the State Oceanic Administration rang unanswered on Friday. Inquiries to the Shandong Provincial Oceanic and Fishery Information Network likewise were not answered.

The first spill occurred around June 10 about 38 kilometers (25 miles) off the coast of Shandong province and was cleaned up in a few days free business cards. Another spill earlier this week and was likewise contained relatively quickly, the reports said.

It was unclear what caused the spills, how many had occurred or if they were continuing.

China’s worst reported oil spill occurred nearly a year ago, when a pipeline at Dalian, a busy northeastern port, exploded and oil poured into the sea, spreading over at least 165 square miles (430 square kilometers).

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OTTAWA

The British Chambers of Commerce pushed back its forecast for when the Bank of England will raise the key interest rate after cutting its growth outlook.

The central bank will raise the rate to 0.75 percent in August from 0.5 percent, BCC Chief Economist David Kern said in an e-mailed statement. The London-based lobby group said in March that the bank would increase the benchmark in May. A separate report showed U.K. house prices fell this month.

The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee is holding off raising interest rates to support the economic recovery, even after inflation accelerated to the more than double its 2 percent target. The BCC sees gross domestic product rising 1.3 percent this year and 2.2 percent in 2012. It previously forecast growth of 1.4 percent and 2.3 percent respectively.

“Although we would prefer to see interest rates held until the fourth quarter, we believe British businesses will be able to absorb small increases,” Kern said in the statement. “But the MPC must act with great caution and must not be too aggressive in its tightening.”

The group sees the Bank of England increasing its key rate to 1 percent this year and 2.75 percent by the end of 2012.

Growth will be slower this year after GDP rose less than forecast in the first quarter, while a higher inflation rate and a faster pace of rate increases will curtail expansion in 2012, the BCC said. It sees growth of 0.3 percent in the current and third quarters and forecasts an acceleration to 0.6 percent at the end of the year.

House Prices

A report from Hometrack Ltd. today showed U.K. house prices fell 0.1 percent in May after demand dropped for the first time in three months. Demand as measured by prospective buyers registering with realtors declined 0.5 percent as “weaker” consumer confidence and two consecutive four-day weekends at the end of last month curtailed activity.

“With concern over household finances and the wider economic outlook, demand for housing is likely to continue to post further modest declines,” Richard Donnell, research director at London-based Hometrack, said in an e-mailed report. “This will result in small single-digit price falls over the coming months and is consistent with our forecast that house prices will end the year down by around 1 percent.”

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