Ameren asks for more talk on Columbia transmission line expansion

Ameren Missouri has proposed further talks with the city of Columbia regarding a major expansion of the city’s electric system.

The Columbia City Council received the report from Ameren Missouri late last week detailing the company’s review of a proposed construction of high-voltage power lines north of town.

The city has been looking for a way to bolster its electric capacity with 161-kilovolt lines. In January 2016, the city council put on hold a project that would have run power lines down Grindstone Parkway and Nifong Boulevard. Mayor Brian Treece, who was newly elected a few months later, suggested the city turn its attention to the north side of town, where Ameren already owned a transmission corridor, and see if the city could attach its lines to the poles already there.

Ameren’s report said it did not object to a new line being built next to its 345-kV line, called the McCredie-Overton transmission line. The company did not find any legal or technical problems with that project, only noting that the new line would have to be about 70 feet from theirs.

“Once the City of Columbia provides more detail related to the design of any new 161 kV transmission line that would parallel the McCredie-Overton 345 kV transmission line right-of-way, Ameren can provide a more detailed analysis and additional design recommendation toward a final project that will accommodate Ameren’s requirements, the City’s needs and the least cost going forward,” the report said.

The transmission line project has spanned nearly a decade, as city leaders have tried to improve electric reliability in town. The city could face costly penalties from federal regulators if it doesn’t improve its capacity by 2020, officials with Columbia Water and Light have said.

The route along Grindstone and Nifong was approved by the city council in 2013. Voters then approved a six percent electric rate increase, in part to pay for the project. The project received intense public scrutiny two years later when SEGA, the city’s consultant on the project, began marking locations for poles. Residents along the route said the lines ran too close to homes and schools, and many feared adverse health effects from the electric lines overhead.

Treece told ABC 17 News he was encouraged by Ameren’s request for further meetings. The issue should remain high on the city council’s priorities, he said, due to impending federal penalties, as well as the utility department’s continued collection of money for the project.

“We need to show meaningful progress, not only to our regulators, but to our consumers,” Treece said.

Fifth Ward councilman Matt Pitzer said he was “cautiously optimistic” about the report. The city would need to figure out what the project would exactly entail along with the price. Pitzer preferred the particular route in the McCredie-Overton plan.

“Of all the ones that have been proposed thus far, [this] is the one that really reduces the impact on our neighborhoods and our schools.”

The report also details several “pinch points,” or structures located outside the McCredie-Overton right-of-way that may make it difficult to construct a new transmission line. That includes some residential neighborhoods between Oakland Gravel Road and Highway 63, as well as a golf course located near the Perche Creek substation.

Treece said he would prefer to just attach the city’s transmission line to the poles already constructed on the corridor. If the city needed to construct new poles, he said planting them near Ameren’s lines is a better option than doing so through town.

“There’s a route there,” Treece said. “The neighbors on both sides…are used to having a power line corridor through their agricultural field.”

The city council should have further discussion on the topic next Monday when Ameren’s report appears on the agenda.