Laclede Gas New Interactive Telephone Answers Questions 24 / 7

	ST. LOUIS, MO, May 28, 2002 - Laclede Gas Company has launched a new, interactive telephone response service to make it faster and easier for customers to obtain basic billing and other important information 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

	"Laclede handles about 1.3 million telephone calls each year, but many of those calls involve basic questions about customer bills," said Richard N. Hargraves, Laclede's Director of Corporate Communications. "Our new, interactive telephone response service will quickly answer those customers' questions so our customer service representatives can concentrate on handling more complex calls."

	With the new service, Laclede Gas customers will be able to automatically obtain information about their bill, verify the status of a scheduled service order and hear information about several programs and services Laclede offers. Just call Laclede's current customer service telephone number - 314-621-6960 - and provide your customer account number. Customers who still need to talk with a customer service representative will be able to do so.

	In addition, Laclede's new system will automatically call customers in advance during the business day to remind them about appointments they have made for work at their homes.

	"This is another way Laclede is working to improve our customer service," Hargraves said. "This is a customer friendly system that will offer people the opportunity to quickly obtain important information at any time of the day or night. Yet they can still talk with one of our customer service representatives if needed. As always, in the event of an emergency, customers will be directed to speak with someone on our staff immediately."