Ameren Illinois Plans $625 Million Project to Modernize Electric Infrastructure, Create Jobs

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Written by John Egan for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Ameren Illinois (Peoria, Illinois), an electric and gas distribution unit of Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE) (St. Louis, Missouri), has developed a 10-year, $625 million plan to modernize and improve its electric infrastructure. This capital program, filed in March with the Illinois Commerce Commission (Springfield, Illinois), "is over and above what we would otherwise be spending" to maintain and operate the electric distribution network, Ameren Illinois spokesman Leigh Morris told Industrial Info. "This is incremental money to modernize and improve our infrastructure."

"We are beginning a historic process that will enable Ameren Illinois to accelerate the process of modernizing its electric distribution system over the next 10 years, in order to meet the service expectations of our customers in the 21st century," Michael Moehn, Ameren Illinois senior vice president of Customer Operations, said in a March 5 statement. "Customers will benefit through improved service reliability and a greater potential for energy savings."

In accordance with legislation passed last year by Illinois lawmakers, Moehn added, "job creation is a key element of our Modernization Action Plan initiative." The law requires Ameren Illinois to create at least 450 jobs during the peak year of its 10-year infrastructure modernization program. That year will be 2015, Morris said, and the utility said it plans to create more than 450 jobs that year.

Morris said that job creation is beginning this year and will increase until the peak year is reached. However, he could not provide a yearly breakout for new jobs created pursuant to this initiative. Nor could he provide any details on how much of the $625 million will be spent in a given year. But he did say the utility's potential spending on infrastructure modernization and improvement over the 10-year period could exceed $625 million. "The numbers will change," he told Industrial Info. "We are still early in the process, and these are estimates."

Though no specific project details are available, in its filing with Illinois utility regulators, Ameren said it plans to modernize and improve its electric infrastructure in six areas:

• Infrastructure Improvements: In addition to its regular infrastructure spending, Ameren Illinois plans to invest an additional estimated $258 million in system improvements and modernizations that will improve service reliability.


• Advanced Metering Infrastructure: An estimated $174 million will be invested to install automated "smart" meters at customer premises. These meters will provide customers with information to help them become better energy consumers and lay the foundation for expanded customer programs.


• Distribution Automation: Investing an additional estimated $169 million in automated intelligent switching devices, sensors and microprocessor-based relays throughout the system will allow Ameren Illinois to more quickly detect and isolate system problems. This will serve to prevent some outages and limit both the size and duration of other outages.


• Distribution System Optimization: Ameren Illinois wants to invest about $11 million to install equipment on portions of its electric distribution system to allow the company to maintain a lower, more efficient distribution system voltage. This will benefit customers by lowering overall electricity demand and usage.


• Training Facilities: About $7 million will be invested to develop a state-of-the-art training center and upgrade an existing training center. The new facility will focus on automated relay and smart grid training, but also will serve as another site for electric system training for existing and new co-workers.


• Technology Enhancements: Using an estimated $6.5 million investment, Ameren Illinois will install a new advanced electricity distribution management system. This advanced system will allow Ameren Illinois to better monitor, control and restore service.

Ameren Illinois is a combination electric and gas utility serving 1.2 million electric customers and 815,000 gas customers across 85 counties in center and southern Illinois. Its mostly rural service area is larger than the state of Indiana, Morris said. It owns no electric generation.

Although the $625 million infrastructure modernization plan applies only to Ameren Illinois' electric service area, Morris said "in the near future, but not this year, we will seek comparable legislation to modernize our gas-delivery business."

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