Every month Michael and Mary Beth Reynolds know they'll only be receiving $1,810 in combined income.

The couple is on a fixed income - both have been declared disabled and receive a monthly federal disability check.

And every month they expect that to pay their mortgage, the lot for their mobile home, telephone and credit card bills before they get to items such as groceries and medical treatment.

But those necessities will be increasingly difficult to take care of, thanks to the spike in their electricity bill from AmerenCIPS.

"It's insane," Michael said. "It's totally insane."

Michael pulled out a bill from January 2003 that showed he used 4,353 kilowatt hours, costing him $231.95. He just received his February bill on Saturday and it showed him using slightly more kilowatt hours, but what changed was the price.

The bill for the Reynolds' all-electric home was $450.64 and they only used 5,037 kilowatt hours of electricity.

In January, the bill was $253.48 and they used 3,579 kilowatt hours of electricity. Michael said he had braced for a higher bill - maybe a 40 to 50 percent increase.

"But I didn't expect it to be over 100 percent higher," he said.

Mary Beth has multiple sclerosis and Michael said he's been to 16 different doctors and hasn't yet figured out what's wrong with him.

"I can't walk; I can't stand for any length of time," he said.

"And I'm legally blind," Mary Beth said.

Their disabilities make it undesireable to install a gas furnace in their mobile home. Because of the nature of mobile home construction a pilot light is almost always certain to blow out, Michael said. That almost always requires getting down on hands and knees or working into some small crevice to re-light the furnace.

"There was no problem with electric (heat)," he said.

Because of their financial constraints, the Reynoldses do participate in Ameren's budget billing plan, under which they average their monthly payments.

Erica Abbett, spokeswoman for Ameren Corp., said budget billing averages your monthly payment from the previous 12 months and is reviewed at the fourth month and eighth month of participation. Each month, she said, participants are given an amount to be paid and an amount of electricity used. At the end of the 12-month cycle, participants either pay the difference if they used more electricity than they paid for or earn a credit if they paid more than they used.

Readjustments will have to be made due to the rate increases, she said.

"(Budget billing) serves to level that payment," Abbett said.

Still, at the end of the year, Michael said the balance has to be paid.

And because they are on federal disability status, Michael said he can't go out and work overtime to help make ends meet.

"Besides," Mary Beth said. "Who would hire someone who can't stand or can't see?"

Cutbacks in the budget will have to be made, but Michael's not quite certain where to do that right now. Paying his bills has always been a priority. He's proud to say he put his two kids through college, but the credit card bills continue to be staggering.

He's gone so far as to think about filing bankruptcy or selling their home and moving in with relatives in Chicago.

"That's a final option," he said. "I'm going to pay it as well as I can for now. This is just a horrible thing."

kristen.cates@thesouthern.com

(618) 529-5454 ext. 5804