AmerenUE to spend $6 million to bury lines in Cape

A $300 million AmerenUE project to bury major power lines could result in about 6 miles of line being placed underground in Cape Girardeau, a spokesman said Thursday.

The project, part of a larger $1 billion, three-year effort to improve reliability, includes just over $6 million to bury lines in Cape Girardeau, company spokesman Tim Fox said. On average, utilities pay about $1 million a mile to convert lines from overhead to underground, he said.

Ameren has identified more than 1,000 locations throughout its service area where burying existing electric transmission lines would have a major impact on reliability, Fox said. The money was allocated to areas served by the utility company based on the number of customers in each location, he said.

Ameren came under harsh criticism in the past 18 months for major outages lasting several days following storms, especially in the St. Louis area. In addition to the money spent on burying lines, the company will be spending $135 million more for tree-trimming near overhead lines, $84 million for circuit inspection and repair and $500 million to improve the environmental records of company-operated power plants.

Decisions on which lines to bury will be based on the number of customers served and the gains to be achieved by burying a particular line, Fox said. "This is strictly about improving reliability, and if customers want underground lines for aesthetic reasons, they will have to pay for it. This is about reliability."

The program is described at Ameren's web site.

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