Construction is underway for a power line project that will cut through Morgan, Scott and Cass Counties.
The one-point-four-billion-dollar, 345-thousand-volt Illinois Rivers Transmission Line is being built after getting approval from the Illinois Commerce Commission last year. Use of eminent domain, if necessary, was approved last summer as well.
The transmission line will stretch from the Mississippi River to Terre Haute, Indiana.
Ameren Transmissions spokesman Leigh Morris explains the progress that has been made so far.
“All 10 of the substations have some sort of construction going on right now. We are well on our way to completing work on the segment that goes around Champaigne. We have some foundational work going on in the vicinity of Pana to Mt. Zion, and the Meredosia to Quincy segment of the line and construction is in progress on what is a very large portion of this project crossing the Mississippi River,” Morris says.
He says construction is expected to be completed by the end of 2019.
Morris notes any utility generator can use the line, and that most of the power on it will be moved east to other states.
“It’s needed to move one renewable power from where it’s made to where it’s being used. I think most people are familiar with the fact that because of EPA regulation, many coal-fire generation plants are closing, and that electricity has got to be made up from another source,” he says.
“One of the key sources is going to be renewable power primarily from wind. Illinois, for example, has requirements called a renewable portfolio standard.”
You can find out more information at www.ilriverstransmission.com.