Ameren Missouri will soon complete a $270,000 project designed to improve the dependability of electric service for a senior housing community and the surrounding area in central Jefferson City, Mo.
Work began in mid-May on the underground power network along Linden Drive between Myrtle and Darlene streets, south of the city's downtown. That portion of the network, built during the 1970s, serves the Villa Marie senior apartments and nursing home off Edmonds Street along with other area customers. Ameren Missouri is replacing about 400 feet of aging underground lines and adding roughly 2,300 feet of new power lines to create another connection to the overhead feeder line. The new power lines are contained within a plastic conduit that will make maintenance easier while extending the life of the lines, said Ralph "Chip" Webb, director of the Ameren Missouri Central Missouri Division.
"We're improving the reliability of our electrical system in a couple of ways with this project," Webb said. "We're replacing aging infrastructure, and creating a loop to the overhead feeder line to serve as an electrical network backup."
The Linden Drive project is slated to be completed by the end of this month.
It is one of several improvements Ameren Missouri has made this year to improve the dependability of the area's electrical network. Other investments in reliable energy for central Missouri include an ongoing tree trimming program that helps prevent outages and the installation of six Viper "smart" switches in Hermann, Berger and Eldon and their surrounding areas.
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Ameren Missouri has been providing electric and gas service for more than 100 years, and the company's electric rates are among the lowest in the nation. Ameren Missouri's mission is to power the quality of life for its 1.2 million electric and 127,000 natural gas customers in central and eastern Missouri. The company's service area covers 64 counties and more than 500 communities including the greater St. Louis area. For more information please visit AmerenMissouri.com or follow Ameren Missouri on Facebook or Twitter.