Powering progress and reliability in Western Missouri

Crews upgrade 66-year-old transformer supporting 1,400 customers

Ameren Missouri announced it is making critical improvements to a substation serving the community of Lawson. The substation's transformer, which was originally installed in the 1950s, showed signs of deterioration, and the equipment had reached the end of its useful life. As a result, the company upgraded the aged transformer, supporting reliability for more than 1,400 customers in the community. In addition to supporting reliability, the new transformer resolves voltage regulation issues and increases substation capacity to better respond to days of high energy demand. 

Upgrades to aging infrastructure are a key part of Ameren Missouri's Smart Energy Plan. Since 2019, the company has upgraded nearly 150 substations throughout its service territory. In addition to the new transformer in Lawson, the company added smart switch technology to the substation in Wood Heights and modern fault protections to the one in Lathrop. Together, these investments support reliability for more than 5,000 customers.

The upgraded transformer at the Lawson substation was placed into service in October.

“These substation upgrades are just one part of our efforts to improve service in the area,” said Jason Haynam, senior manager of Ameren Missouri’s Central Missouri division. “We are also adding smart switch technology to overhead lines, which rapidly detect and automatically isolate damage. This limits outages and helps speed restoration.”

Additionally, the upgraded Lawson substation highlights another important aspect of the Smart Energy Plan. The substation's new transformer was manufactured in Washington, Missouri, by WEG Transformers USA. The company, which has produced several transformers for Smart Energy Plan upgrades throughout Ameren Missouri's service territory, recently announced an expansion of its operations in Washington due to demand for its power transformers. Since 2019, Ameren Missouri has partnered with more than 1,200 Show-Me State-based suppliers through its Smart Energy Plan.
To learn more about how Ameren Missouri is supporting grid reliability and resiliency through its Smart Energy Plan, please visit AmerenMissouri.com/plan.