Ameren Missouri improves energy infrastructure in North St. Louis County

Smart Energy Plan upgrades designed to improve energy grid reliability in the area

Ameren Missouri is nearing completion of several projects supporting greater reliability in North St. Louis County. Some of these Smart Energy Plan projects are proactive upgrades, while others are being accelerated in response to an unprecedented summer storm season in 2023.

Through its Smart Energy Plan, Ameren Missouri is upgrading outdated equipment at two substations, supporting improved reliability for customers in North County. In Florissant, crews replaced a 50-year-old transformer with a new, larger capacity transformer capable of handling higher energy loads during peak use in the summer and winter. This upgrade supports increased reliability for approximately 23,000 residents and businesses in Florissant.

Crews work to move the new transformer into place at Ameren’s Florissant substation.

“This new transformer is the latest of several investments in the area, including substation upgrades at Cross Keys and near Koch Park, and the installation of stronger composite poles along Dunn Road,” says Jason Woodard, director of Metro Engineering for Ameren Missouri. “These projects can work together to quickly reroute power and reduce outages from days or hours to minutes or even seconds.”

Ameren Missouri is also replacing an aging switchgear at its substation in Spanish Lake. The new switchgear is equipped with smart technology that can rapidly detect outages and switch power automatically. This substation serves nearly 6,000 customers. Together, the Florissant and Spanish Lake projects represent more than $6 million in investments in North County. Additional Smart Energy Plan upgrades are planned for the area in 2024.

In response to extensive storm damage last summer, Ameren is prioritizing tree trimming along 75 miles of power lines in its north metro operating area. This targeted trimming is in addition to regular easement maintenance and will help increase reliability during future storms. “Trees are one of the main causes of outages during storms,” says Nick Henderson, manager of Vegetation Management for Ameren Missouri. “We often see damage from limbs and trees falling onto power lines from outside of Ameren’s easement maintenance.”

A separate tree trimming project in Bellefontaine Neighbors involved the deployment of a forestry mulcher to clear trees away from power lines feeding the St. Louis City Water Treatment plant. This equipment is safer and more efficient than traditional tree trimming methods and will help support greater reliability and fewer storm-related boil water advisories for city residents.

While each individual project has a direct impact for those living nearby, taken together these upgrades strengthen the overall reliability of the electric grid in the region. This operational flexibility translates to fewer and shorter outages for Ameren customers.

The Smart Energy Plan was enabled by the Missouri Legislature's passage of Senate Bill 564 in 2018 and approved for extension and expansion by the General Assembly in 2022. Through the Smart Energy Plan, Ameren is working to upgrade and modernize the electrical grid, while also improving reliability throughout its service territory.