Ameren Transmission Plans New High-Voltage Line Through Northeast Missouri

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 By Echo Menges 

Northeast Missouri – Sept. 1, 2024 – Two high-voltage transmission line project teams from Ameren Transmission of Illinois (ATXI) worked their way across Northeast Missouri last month. The teams hosted public meetings in communities where ATXI plans to build another high-voltage transmission line, adding 200 miles of 345-kilovolt (345,000-volt) transmission line through DeKalb, Daviess, Grundy, Sullivan, Adair, Knox, Lewis, Marion, Macon, and Randolph counties. 

The teams hosted 20 public meetings at 10 locations in all 10 NEMO counties between Aug. 20 and Aug. 28. The public meetings are required by the Missouri Public Service Commission (PSC) before ATXI can be granted approval for the project to move forward. 

The teams consisted of about a dozen ATXI staff, including a two-person security team, who spoke with area citizens and landowners in and around the project path about the plan, its impact on land and vegetation within the path, the design of the project, and answered any mapping and routing questions. They also discussed the basics of easement negotiations and collected Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping data directly from landowners impacted by the project. 

The teams also asked the communities to weigh in on their preferences regarding the types of transmission line structures preferred for various sections of the route. 

“This meeting is for the public. We’re out here to gain feedback on particular parcels, property, and the communities to determine what kind of resources or needs they have in the area, and develop our submittal to the Public Service Commission,” said Nick Rudis, project manager for ATXI. 

The project has been named the DZTM Project for the path from the Denny to Zachary and Thomas Hill to Maywood power substations. Much of the proposed path is on already existing right-of-way, which will have to be expanded from roughly 150 feet wide to up to 250 feet wide through negotiations with landowners along the path. 

ATXI is aiming to make a one-time payment to landowners for easements and expanded easements. 

“The payment will be based on a market study. An independent market study is performed, and the payment will be 150 percent of that market study,” said Rudis. 

For landowners within the path, utilities being forced to pay 150 percent of the land value is a new state law, according to Missouri State Rep. Greg Sharpe (R-4th Dist.) who attended a public meeting held in Knox County. “This is something I tried to get through a few years ago. I wasn’t able to, but another legislator was able to get it through, and this essentially makes every farm a Century Farm and forces the utility to pay 150 percent of the value.” 

Using eminent domain to obtain property easements from uncooperative landowners is an option for the project. 

“That’s a possible option, but Ameren never wants to go down that route. We’ll do everything in good faith negotiations to work with that landowner specifically to avoid that option,” said Rudis. 

According to the Knox County commissioners, government officials were notified about the project approximately one month earlier. 

“We’ve been getting emails for a year and a half with questions that we felt like were relating to something like this. Some of them were more specific, but it was all pretty vague. It was companies that were talking about engineering. [Those] were the questions we were getting. Officially, we became aware of it about 30 days ago. There was a meeting for the public officials at White Oak Lodge. It was in our minutes. I went to that. That’s the first real notification that we had that they were intending to start this process,” said Leslie Cardwell, Knox County presiding commissioner. 

ATXI’s building of a high-voltage transmission line has been experienced by communities and landowners quite recently with the Mark Twain Transmission Line Project, which was built in Adair, Knox, Lewis, Marion, and Schuyler counties and was fully energized in December 2019, less than five years ago. 

The Mark Twain Transmission Project is a 96-mile transmission line that was mainly built on already existing right-of-way originally owned by Northeast Power. That project was plagued by years of controversy, public, and county government pushback against Ameren and ATXI’s aim to establish their own greenfield path – not on already existing utility right-of-way. 

During the negotiations of that project, county commissions in several affected counties banded together, refusing to grant Road Use Agreements to the project planners, which sparked lawsuits against the counties, commissioners, and county clerks. 

The standoff helped push the utility to work with Northeast Power and redesign the project using the already existing right-of-way. 

Much of the DZTM Project is running parallel to the Mark Twain Transmission Line Project, and DZTM Project planners are already adding another high-voltage line alongside the newly built one. 

According to the Knox County commissioners, it is still much too early to be discussing Road Use Agreements between county commissions and ATXI, and the commissioners are not part of the process between ATXI and landowners. 

“It’s always in the landowner’s best interest to have their attorneys or someone knowledgeable in those transactions look at [the contracts] and help them. Everybody is going to have to do that on their own. None of those agreements will be brought up here. I would hope that a lot of the landowners learned from the last time,” said Ron Leckbee, Knox County Eastern District commissioner. “It’s not been very long ago; they’ve all gone through this. They’ve all experienced it once.” 

The commissioners also reported they were not given any information about the possible tax benefits of the DZTM Project, which could be significant. 

“No, they never gave any projections on revenues. It’s so early,” said Cardwell. 

Anyone interested in the project can visit the informational website established by Ameren/ ATXI at https://www. ameren.com/company/ ameren-transmission/ northern-missouri-grid. 

“Overall, and simplistically, it’s for resiliency and reliability of the grid locally and regionally. This facilitates energy transfer throughout the region. It provides additional sources where needed and helps local communities and communities outside the area as well,” said Rudis. 

DZTM Project Overview from ATXI 

The Denny-Zachary- Thomas Hill-Maywood (DZTM) Project includes the construction of over 200 miles of new 345-kV transmission lines with three transmission line segments. The first new line segment of the project will run approximately 100 miles from ATXI’s new Denny substation in DeKalb County to ATXI’s existing Zachary substation near Kirksville, Missouri. 

A second new line segment, approximately 60 miles, will connect the existing Zachary substation to ATXI’s existing Maywood substation near Palmyra, Missouri. A vast majority of the Zachary-Maywood line segment will be built along an existing corridor. 

The project’s third line segment consists of 44 miles rebuilt on Ameren’s existing transmission corridor from the Zachary substation to AECI’s existing Thomas Hill substation in Randolph County. 

The project includes upgrades to existing Ameren substations.