PALMYRA, Mo. — An Ameren Missouri open house at the Palmyra American Legion is a prelude to an electric grid expansion that the company says will improve local transmission capacity.
The Marion County portion of the project will include a nine-mile expansion and renovation of power infrastructure beginning with upgrades of the Maywood Substation, located on the western portion of Mo. 168, and continuing northeast to the Mississippi River.
"Having more (geographically) diverse sets of lines and a higher capacity gives you the ability to transport power in from any source of generation," said Ameren Program Manager Sam Morris. "Whether it's solar, wind, coal, nuclear or hydro, there's a wider variety of options available to customers."
The portion from the Maywood Substation to the Palmyra Substation, a southern parallel to County Road 320, will be constructed of steel towers carrying 345 kilovolts.
For the remaining portion, existing wooden towers with 161-kilovolt transmission lines will be torn down and replaced with steel towers carrying both 161-kilovolt lines and 345-kilovolt lines.
There will be seven to eight towers per mile at an average height of 80 to 140 feet.
Property owners with land along the route are typically paid lump sums for easements, which give Ameren construction, operation and maintenance rights.
Ameren committed to working with landowners to understand the nuances of each lot and repay landowners for damages caused by the new project.
The company is bound by federal and state regulations that require consideration of irrigation, soil, underground infrastructure and local ecosystems.
The typical width of an easement is 150 feet, varying depending on current easement contracts. The project’s real estate team will have dedicated agents to assist landowners during the process, which includes surveys, the addition of access roads, land restoration, and compensation.
Real estate negotiations are slated to begin in summer 2025, construction in fall 2026, and completion is projected in fall 2028. All dates are subject to change depending on regulatory requirements.
The project is intended to create redundancies in power transmission that will allow Ameren to reroute power through the area if other lines are damaged. The increased capacity will potentially open up opportunities for power suppliers to set up locally.
Ameren's local initiative is part of an interstate plan masterminded by the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO), a membership-funded organization that manages the power grid in midwestern states and parts of Canada.
Marion is part of s $10.3 billion national transmission project recommended by the organization in 2022.
"It's not just Marion County," said Program Manager Thomas Paul. "Ameren is mostly working on Missouri and Illinois but there have been open houses across the river in Quincy and other areas of Illinois. We'll be back to do more open houses in Missouri."
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