As you know, there are currently two ways to check prices. You can go to
Ameren’s website or call and listen to a recording of the prices. Would you like to have an easier way to keep an eye on prices – like a widget that could be displayed on your internet home page?
CNT Energy is testing three web-based tools that provide information about hourly prices. One tool is a Google gadget that displays the current hourly energy prices with a virtual stoplight. Another is a toolbar for Firefox that shows the current hourly energy price, with an optional graph of prices for the entire day. The third tool is a Vista gadget.
If you’d like to try any of these tools, see below for the links to download them. We’d like to know what you think of them, so call or e-mail us with your comments. Please let us know whether you find these tools helpful for managing your energy use. Also, we would be interested in your ideas about other helpful ways to make price information available. Finally, if you are a web programmer or developer who would like to help us develop these or other tools, we’d love to hear from you.
In addition, we continue to offer more detailed web-based information about your individual electricity usage and costs through our website. Those tools will continue to be enhanced over the coming year by our technology partner Aclara Software. To view these tools, log in to your Ameren account at
www.Ameren.com, and then click on the Power Smart Pricing link.
Test the New Tools!Please note that you will need a Google homepage
and account, Firefox browser or Windows Vista operating system in order to use these tools.
Google gadget
If you have a Google account, you can place this virtual stoplight on your iGoogle homepage. It changes hourly to show the current price of electricity. You will need to log in to your Google account for the gadget to appear. Click here to download.
Firefox Toolbar
This toolbar is for users of the Firefox web browser. (If you don’t have Firefox, you can download it for free at www.Mozilla.com/Firefox.) The toolbar shows the current price of electricity and has a button to display a graph of the day’s prices. Click here to download.
(Note: You may have to log in to Firefox to have access to this program.)
Vista Gadget
This gadget will only work if you have the Windows Vista operating system. Click here to download. UPDATE: If you are having trouble getting the Vista gadget, here is a link to the Windows Vista Help website for gadgets.
These tools were developed by Jay Nick, a retired utility engineer with a long-time interest in real-time pricing. The tools are still under development, so your comments are appreciated.
