Ameren
Utilities
29
out of 100. Number 398 of 512, counting from the worst.
Where Ameren does well
- Arbitration 1 of 20. Few problems found.
- Renewals 1 of 20. Few problems found.
- Data retention 3 of 15. Few problems found.
- No forced arbitration or class-action waiver: Ameren's own Terms submit disputes to the state and federal courts in Madison County, Illinois or St.
- Louis County, Missouri instead of mandatory arbitration.
- Material privacy-policy changes are grandfathered: 'the policy that was in place at the time that you submitted personal information to Ameren will generally govern that information unless Ameren receives your consent to the new privacy policy.' Third parties contracted to provide utility services must agree to data security standards protecting personal information.
- Ameren says it will not knowingly collect data from children under 16 and will delete it if discovered.
- The sweeping contribution-IP license explicitly excludes files uploaded for ecommerce or job applications.
- Cell-phone marketing consent given via the site can be revoked 'at any time by any reasonable method.'
Ameren can rewrite its privacy policy whenever it wants, and just by continuing to use the site you are deemed to have agreed to the new version — no opt-in or signature required.
The fine print
6 clauses and findings from the draft archive, dated 1 October 2026. The plain English comes first; the small print is the company's own words. None of these has been checked yet.
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Ameren can rewrite its privacy policy whenever it wants, and just by continuing to use the site you are deemed to have agreed to the new version — no opt-in or signature required.
From time to time, Ameren may change this Privacy Policy. Any changes will be immediately effective upon the posting of the updated Privacy Policy. Your continued use of Ameren's Site represents your consent to the terms of the new Privacy Policy.
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A catch-all that lets Ameren use your personal data for anything it considers a 'legitimate business purpose' — far beyond billing or customer support.
Ameren may use your Personal Information for any other business purpose it deems legitimate, as permitted by applicable law.
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The Ameren app can reach into your phone's camera, browser, social media apps, and location/GPS under the umbrella of app operation.
Ameren may also access functions on your mobile device for the operation of Ameren's mobile application, which can include, but is not limited to: telephone, camera, browser, social media apps, fingerprinting, or GPS.
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If you turn on your browser's Do Not Track setting, Ameren's site ignores it.
Do Not Track ("DNT") is a privacy preference that users can set in his/her web browsers. Ameren's Site is not currently configured to respond to DNT signals sent by web browsers.
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Anything you upload to Ameren's site (other than ecommerce or job-application data) becomes permanently and irrevocably usable by Ameren for any purpose, as if you'd given it to the public domain.
By uploading or otherwise submitting a file or other information ("Contribution") to the website or mobile application, you automatically grant, or warrant that the copyright owner of the Contribution has expressly granted to the Ameren Companies a perpetual, royalty-free, irrevocable, worldwide, non-exclusive license to use, reproduce, publicly display, modify, store, create derivative works from, and/or distribute the Contribution (in whole or part) and/or to incorporate it in other works in any medium now known or hereafter developed, as if the Contribution were public domain information.
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If anything goes wrong from your use of the site, you cover Ameren's legal costs — but if Ameren harms you, its liability is capped at what you paid them (which for a website visitor is $0). One-way protection.
You agree to indemnify Ameren and all of its affiliates, subsidiaries, business units, content providers, agents, and the like, in each instance from and against any and all claims, suits, liabilities, expenses (including, without limitation, attorneys' fees), and/or damages arising out of claims based upon your use of the Ameren Sites... REGARDLESS OF THE PREVIOUS SENTENCES, IF AMEREN IS FOUND TO BE LIABLE, AMEREN'S LIABILITY TO YOU OR TO ANY THIRD-PARTY IS LIMITED TO THE GREATER OF THE ACTUAL TOTAL AMOUNT RECEIVED BY AMEREN FROM YOU OR THE LOWEST LIABILITY LIMITATION ALLOWED BY APPLICABLE LAW.
How these were found
Terms & Conditions read in full from the live page http://www.ameren.com/terms (search-result URL returned the http variant; 'Last Updated and Effective Date: 6/12/2025'). Privacy Policy read in full from https://www.qa.ameren.com/privacy, a QA/staging mirror of the www.ameren.com/privacy page (identical content, 'Effective and Last updated: 6/12/2025'); the production page was used where content matched. No data-retention schedule or deletion rights are stated in either document, so retention scoring is conservative. Ameren is a regulated utility: core electric/gas service rights (rates, disconnection, billing disputes) are set by state tariffs overseen by the Illinois Commerce Commission and Missouri Public Service Commission, not by these web terms — this score covers only the website/app terms and privacy policy, so it is modest by design. The forced-arbitration hits found via search (EnergyHub thermostat program, SmartEnergy supplier terms) are third-party program documents, not Ameren's own terms.
These notes come from the original draft and are not independent verification.