Judge rules against Ameren in power line dispute

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A Missouri judge has ruled against a subsidiary of Ameren Corp. in a legal dispute over whether it needs state permission to build a high-voltage power line across northeast Missouri.

Ameren Transmission Co. of Illinois had wanted a court to declare it doesn't need a certificate from the Missouri Public Service Commission to construct the power line or to use eminent domain to acquire property in its path.

But Cole County Circuit Judge Dan Green declined to do so. In a ruling dated Thursday, Green noted that the PSC has taken no action against Ameren and said he would not issue what amounted to a "hypothetical advisory opinion."

The proposed 100-mile power line in Missouri would be part of a 480-mile transmission route from Ottumwa, Iowa, to western Indiana.