Ameren spending $1.2 million in Du Quoin and Pinckneyville
Ameren Illinois is investing in electric infrastructure improvements to upgrade the reliability and performance of its energy delivery system in Perry County.
Ameren Illinois will invest approximately $1.2 million to meet the energy needs of residential and business customers today, while adding capacity to handle expected increases in load demand now and in the future. In Du Quoin, Ameren Illinois is upgrading and adding capacity to power lines in two different locations. The added capacity is similar to expanding a two-lane highway to a four-lane highway.
Near Du Quoin High School, Ameren Illinois will upgrade nearly 1,000 feet of power line to improve reliability to meet the needs of the high school, residential customers and downtown businesses. Investment: $185,000. Project will be completed after Easter weekend.
Along Line Street, Ameren Illinois is replacing nearly 4,800 feet of old power line along Line Street with a larger line to handle more load capacity, reduce outages and to improve customer reliability. Investment: $100,000. Project just started.
In Pinckneyville, Ameren Illinois is moving and upgrading power line, adding advanced technology to substations.
Rebuild 2.5-mile section of power line. To help aid restoration times of customer outages, Ameren Illinois is moving the existing power line along the Union Pacific Railroad to Illinois Route 154 to provide better access for repairs and maintenance. In addition to moving the line, the new power line will improve flexibility when switching between the Pinckneyville substations in the event of an outage as well as increase circuit capacity.
Investment: $675,000. Project just started.
Adding advanced relay devices to substations. The advanced relay devices will improve Ameren Illinois' response to outages and provide valuable information for post-outage evaluations. By continuously monitoring the health of the system, the new relays will help to restore electric service more quickly, reducing outage time. Investment: $280,000. Project just started.
"Improving service reliability is a central component of our plan to upgrade the grid," said George Justice, Director of Division VI Operations for Ameren Illinois. "In addition to our ongoing system maintenance work, we're investing additional resources in Perry County and throughout central and southern Illinois to improve service reliability for our customers."
Justice notes that Ameren Illinois field crews and contractors will log more than 5,500 work hours on the projects in Du Quoin and Pinckneyville.
Ameren Illinois is investing $3.5 billion over the next five years to build a next generation energy delivery system and create jobs in central and southern Illinois. Ameren Illinois is fortifying utility poles, installing intelligent switches and sensors, replacing distribution and natural gas transmission equipment, and installing advanced meters throughout its 43,700-square-mile territory.