Key Takeaways:
BENTON, Ill. (Oct. 9, 2026) – Ameren Transmission Company of Illinois (ATXI) is hosting its third in-person public open house next week in Franklin County to gather public input on the Lakeland Area Reliability Project. ATXI is working with Southern Illinois Power Cooperative (SIPC) and Hoosier Energy on this project to enhance reliability in the area.
All members of the community are invited to attend the open house and provide feedback on the three "Preferred Route" options under consideration for a single transmission line after receiving feedback during the previous rounds of public engagement in July and September.
The project includes the construction of an approximately 15-mile, 138 kilovolt (kV) transmission line from Ameren Illinois’ existing Benton Northwest Substation to SIPC’s Franklin Junction Substation, located south of the Village of Hanaford. The Benton Northwest Substation will also be upgraded as part of the project.
The three preferred route options were identified after the project team reviewed feedback received during previous open houses and evaluated routing criteria throughout the study area. Public input helped identify local opportunities and sensitivities that informed the route evaluation process.
From the Franklin Junction Substation, two of the route options would primarily approach the Benton Northwest Substation from the south and west of Benton, while the remaining route option would connect these substations by passing east and north of Benton. The preferred route options are available for viewing on the project website.
Once in service, the project will improve energy reliability for local communities and the surrounding region, improve resiliency to minimize power limitations and their impacts to local communities, and support long-term economic growth in the region.
The open house will offer the latest information about the project and an opportunity to provide feedback on the routing process. Each session will include the same information, with no formal presentation. A self-paced virtual engagement presentation and interactive comment map are also available online.
"This open house marks an important milestone in the routing process because we're able to show how community feedback and technical analysis have helped narrow the route options under consideration," said Sam Gardner, project manager for Ameren. "We're committed to listening and learning throughout this process, and the feedback we receive during this final round of engagement will help us identify the route options we ultimately submit for regulatory review."
The project team will use routing criteria and input collected from the third round of public engagement to select a “Primary Route” and an “Alternate Route” to submit to the Illinois Commerce Commission in early 2027 for approval.
The project is scheduled to be in service in December 2028. For more information, visit Ameren.com/LakelandArea, email LakelandAreaReliability@etc-online.com, or call the project hotline at 833.478.7733.
About Ameren Corporation
St. Louis-based Ameren Corporation powers the quality of life for 2.5 million electric customers and more than 900,000 natural gas customers in a 67,700-square-mile area through its Ameren Missouri and Ameren Illinois rate-regulated utility subsidiaries. Ameren Illinois provides electric transmission and distribution service and natural gas distribution service. Ameren Missouri provides electric generation, transmission and distribution services, as well as natural gas distribution service. Ameren Transmission Company of Illinois develops, owns and operates rate-regulated regional electric transmission projects in the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, Inc. For more information, visit Ameren.com, or follow us at @AmerenCorp, Facebook.com/AmerenCorp, or LinkedIn.com/company/Ameren.