AmerenUE SEMO Division Manager Jean Mason says the work is aimed at improving reliability and accommodating new growth throughout the area.
"The Rogue Creek area has experienced several power outages in recent years, and because many customers in this area heat with electricity, outages that occur in winter can take longer to restore due to the heavy demand that all those electric furnaces put on our system," Mason says. "When this upgrade is done, our customers should see a noticeable improvement in service."
Although this project is designed to improve service in the future, AmerenUE advises customers that some brief, planned outages may be necessary to protect worker safety while the work is going on. To minimize customer inconvenience, the company will attempt to notify communities when such outages are scheduled. AmerenUE says some unplanned outages are also possible.
"Due to the nature of the work, it may create some periods when our system in the area is more vulnerable to unplanned power interruptions than it would be otherwise," Mason says. "But once this work is completed, it will mean more reliable service for many years to come."
AmerenUE is a subsidiary of St. Louis-based Ameren Corporation. The Ameren companies serve 2.4 million electric customers and nearly one million natural gas customers in a 64,000-square-mile area of Missouri and Illinois.
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