Ameren wants power plant in Reynolds County

Business Today

LESTERVILLE -- Ameren Corp. wants to build a hydroelectric power plant on top of Church Mountain in nearby Reynolds County. It would be Ameren's largest hydroelectric plant.

Church Mountain is not far from Taum Sauk Mountain and Johnson's Shut-ins state parks.

Ameren Corp. is the parent company of AmerenUE, which supplies power to homes and businesses in Missouri.

Ameren Development Co., a subsidiary of Ameren Corp., filed a request June 8 with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for a permit to begin evaluating the proposed plant, which would produce 770 megawatts of electricity. Currently, 440 megawatts are produced by Ameren's highest-capacity hydro station on top of nearby Proffit Mountain.

Ameren says the project, which includes two reservoir dams, is needed to meet growing demand for electricity. It could become operational between 2007 and 2009.

Environmentalists are worried that the plant would be unattractive, ruin wildlife habitat and open the area to more development.

The new plant would be a pumped-storage facility. It would produce electricity using the pressure of falling water at times of peak electrical demand. The water would be pumped back up to the reservoir at times of low demand.

The company said in a news release that "extensive environmental studies would be conducted before any actual construction could begin."