City and county officials today launched almost $4 million in AmerenUE projects to provide even greater reliability and benefit more than 2,000 households in North St. Louis County. St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley, Florissant Mayor Robert Lowery, and Richard Mark, senior vice president of energy delivery for AmerenUE announced the improvements at McCluer North High School in Florissant. The St. Catherine and Paddock Forest sites comprise some of UE’s largest residential reliability-improvement projects to date for Project Power On.
UE, a utility operating company of Ameren Corporation, is putting overhead power circuits underground along St. Catherine Street and Paddock Drive in Florissant as part of its aggressive effort to improve reliability and service for customers throughout its service area. This $2.6 million project is designed to improve electric service for 1,014 customers and improve reliability during severe weather. UE will also be placing overhead lines underground in the Paddock Forest neighborhood in North St. Louis County. That $1.2 million project will benefit 1,219 customers.
Power On is UE’s aggressive effort to significantly upgrade its delivery system and enhance the environmental performance of its power plants. All St. Louis County customers directly affected by this work have been contacted by UE.
“Mayor Lowery and I both hear from constituents when their power is out, so I’m very pleased to see UE responding so aggressively to improve reliability,” said Dooley. “We know UE has launched a number of projects like this and that there will be more to come. We think UE’s investment will go a long way toward providing greater reliability for customers in St. Louis County.”
Mark added, “We’ve reached out across Missouri to listen to our customers, respond to their needs, and deliver results. This is certainly a significant undertaking to improve reliability for more than 2,000 households.”
“Energy issues have been front and center in the presidential debates, and UE is fully engaged in meeting Missouri customers’ needs now and in the future,” added Mark.
“This area of Florissant has been greatly affected by severe weather over the last few years,” said Lowery. “UE’s investment in this project shows that they are listening to the concerns of Florissant residents and making a concerted effort to improve the reliability of their electric service.”
Under Power On, UE is working to underground circuits most susceptible to outages and investing more than $200 million on additional tree-trimming and system inspection and maintenance. To date, UE has completed 119 undergrounding projects, with 92 more under construction. An additional 533 other projects to improve reliability are in the works.
These projects have led to an increase in jobs for Power On contractors. At the end of 2007, UE contractors had 34 full-time equivalent employees working on Power On projects. That number has grown to 368 with increased activity.
“We are working to improve our energy delivery system as a whole, while focusing on areas that are hit hardest during severe weather,” said Mark. “We recognize it is our responsibility to ensure our customers’ power is there when they need it, in a way that protects our environment.”
With 1.2 million customers, UE is Missouri’s largest electric company and third largest provider of natural gas. Ameren, through its operating companies, serves 2.4 million electric and 1 million natural gas customers in a 64,000-square-mile area of Illinois and Missouri.
Additional information is available at www.ameren.com/poweron.
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CONTACT: Lori Light, 314.554.2681, or Tim Fox, 314.554.3120, both of AmerenUE