County Commissioners get update on Illinois Rivers Project

By Gary Scott on April 10, 2017 at 10:54am

Morgan County Commissioners heard from Ameren representatives at this morning’s meeting.

County Commissioners received an update on the Illinois Rivers Project that Ameren has been working on for several years.

Leah Dettmers with Ameren Stakeholder Relations, explains exactly what the Illinois Rivers Project is and what it means for the Morgan County area.

“The Illinois Rivers Project is approximately a 375-mile line that goes across central Illinois and it brings added reliability and brings renewable energy from sources such as wind to our power grid and energy grid here in Illinois,” says Dettmers.

Ameren representatives say they were able to energize four line segments in 2016 out of total of nine. Dettmers explains what those line segments are, and says there are two additional line segments that they hope to have ready by November.

“We’re hoping to get those installed and energized by November of this year, and that would be the Meredosia to Ipava line that’s part of the 375 miles for the Illinois Rivers Project. All the line segments are interconnected just like the highways are connected to off-ramps, these superhighways of energy, which our transmission lines represent, connect to substations and they bring added reliability and capacity so that more energy can be put on, even from renewable energy, onto the energy grid,” Dettmers explains.

Dettmers talks about the total cost of the Illinois Rivers Project and Ameren’s relationship with various county boards.

“The total project cost is $1.4 billion. We’re on schedule, we’re on budget with that target. It’s part of the multi-value projects across the Midwest and we are on target for all of our in-service states. We’ve worked with all of our land owners and stakeholders and governments. We’ve had over ninety meetings with the public, including counties and county commissioners, so they’re well aware and we put them ahead and always keep them in the loop with more information,” says Dettmers.

To learn more about the Illinois Rivers Project, click here.