Ameren Illinois Southern Illinois Division Director George Justice was quoted by BND.com as saying that the investment is a proactive move to enhance infrastructure now and focus on what the customers’ energy needs will be in 2030.
Out of total $9m invested by the company in Belleville, around $400,000 will be spent in capacity and reliability enhancements at the Richland Creek Substation, followed by another $175,000 in upgrades to the South Belleville substation, $900,000 in line work to support construction of the Concordia Substation.
An additional $2.5m have been assigned for construction of a new West Haven Substation at 1700 Freeburg Ave. and $1.9m in infrastructure improvements to the C Street and Second Street substation at 217 N. Missouri Ave.
Ameren Division Operations senior director John Barud said the upgrades will cost residential customers an average of $3.40 per year.
"It’s a combination of adding capacity and to make sure we’re positioned for future growth by doing maintenance or replacing our out-of-date facilities and making sure that we are in position to provide safe and reliable service for our customers," Barud added.
Ameren is also investing $3.1m in Shiloh, $10.3m in Waterloo in Monroe County, $5.5m in Alton and $1.6m in Marine in Madison County, and $1.9m in Jerseyville in Jersey County.
Closely monitored by Citizens Utility Board, the project, when completed is expected to reduce outages and energy waste.
