Ameren open houses an opportunity to learn about Grand Tower Crossing project

In an effort to improve the areas’s energy reliability for local communities, Ameren is proposing its “Grand Tower Crossing Project.” The plan is to construct a new 138-kiloVolt transmission line going from a new substation just north of Grand Tower, Ill. to a Wittenberg substation.

The goal is to have the project — a nearly four-mile line to connect a new substation, referred to as Jenkins, in Illinois with an existing Wittenberg substation — completed and in service to the community by the end of 2028.

Tuesday, Feb. 25, there were a couple of opportunities — from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., and again from 5 to 7 p.m. — to meet with project organizers, ask questions, see the proposed route, at the Trinity Lutheran School Gymnasium in Altenburg. This is the second round of open houses Ameren has hosted regarding its Grand Tower Crossing Project.

The Grand Tower Crossing Project includes the construction of a new, approximately 4 mile, 138-kV transmission line to connect an existing Citizen’s Electric substation in Perry County, Missouri, across the Mississippi River to a new substation in Jackson County, Ill. The goal, according to Ameren officials, is to have the new transmission line in service and providing benefits to the community by the end of 2028.

The remainder of 2025 is reserved for developing and finalizing the route while permitting and regulatory processes are set aside for 2026. Construction on the project is scheduled to begin in 2027.

“The Grand Tower Crossing Project will help the members of Citizens Electric by improving system reliability and increasing transmission capacity for our 27,000 members, creating a stronger and more resilient electric network and providing long-term benefits for the electric needs of our local members,” Daniel Coomes, the vice president of engineering for Citizens Electric Corporation, said in a press release. “These investments will benefit the entire community.”

During each open house, the Grand Tower Crossing Project team will include project overview information and an opportunity to provide input. Both open house sessions will include the same information with no formal presentation. There will also be a self-paced, virtual engagement and comment map available starting Feb. 24.

In addition to the Feb. 25 open house in Altenburg, representatives from both Ameren and the Citizens Electric Cooperation welcomed those with questions and concerns in mid-January at Perryville’s Knights of Columbus Hall.

“We collected valuable feedback from our open house sessions in January, and we consider this a critical step in our planning and routing process,” said Eric Paulek, project manager for the Grand Tower Crossing Project. "We hope interested members of the public will join us in Altenburg to learn more about the project, ask questions and share their feedback so we can take into account any needs and concerns from the community.”

“(During) our project process, we’ve done some research in regards to the study area,” said Leah Dettmers, “It started in the fall. It started in the fall of ’24 and took us until early 2025.”

The feedback from those in Perry County has been helpful, according to Dettmers, who serves as the manager of stakeholder relations and training at Ameren.

“What we’ve learned is there’s a lot of public feedback, there’s a lot of sensitivities and opportunities that we’ve worked with the public on learning about, and as we go through the process, it becomes deductive as we get one final route that minimizes impacts to the communities and maximizes opportunities. So what we’ll do from here is we’ll file a proposed route to the Missouri PSC (Public Services Commission) with that input in mind in April of this year, 2025.”

“The common themes are: one, want to learn about the project and how it benefits them, and what that looks like for the energy system and how that’s preparing us for the future' and then, two, they want to talk about specific parcels or specific routes and talk about what are sensitivities, or, in this case, a lot of opportunities that the public has to offer, things they prefer and routes they would prefer. We’ve been talking to them about that.”

Those unable to make the workshop in Altenburg still have the chance to provide feedback to the project organizers.

“Just because they couldn’t come today, we would encourage them to go online. We have all the same materials on our web site. They could use the mapping system, and drop a note, or any kind of concerns, or any kind of sensitivities.”

Those with questions and concerns are encouraged to call the project hotline at 1 (800) 488-7119 and also email their concerns at connect@grandtowercrossing.com

“If they are not necessarily wanting to go digitally, there are packets at the Lutheran Heritage Museum here in Altenburg that they can take with them,” Dettmers said. “It’s the same information, they can write on a map…and mail that back to our project team.”

Feedback is the focus

More than 20 individuals met with Ameren during the Feb. 25 outings, according to Dettmers.

“That is the whole purpose of the open houses and this public engagement process because they know their community best, and they know where some of the sensitivities are, and then we cross reference that with our technical requirements to try and build the best route possible so that in the future we can build this investment for the community, with the community in mind, and in partnership with them,” Dettmers said. “We’re building a new 138 kilovolt line in partnership with Citizens (Electric). It’ll be a river crossing, from the existing Citizens (Electric Corporation’s) Wittenberg substation in Perry County, Missouri, it’ll cross four miles across the mississippi River to a new substation, Jenkins, because the existing Grand Tower substation is being retired and they are redeveloping that parcel. In order for us to have a new substation, they’re going to redevelop that old parcel and we’ll just move to the south in the new Jenkins substation

“Open houses are our way of engaging the community,” said Ameren Grand Tower Crossing project manager Eric Paulek. “We want as much input from local stakeholders, government agencies, the land owners. We want to be aware of any sensitivities of the project. The end goal of these open houses are to engage the community to make this a successful project for everybody involved.”

The government agencies for a project can include: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Missouri Department of Conservation, Illinois Department of Natural Resources, Missouri Department of Natural Resources, Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, Missouri State Parks, the Missouri Conservation Department, and possibly Historic Preservation.

Ameren has been part of several river crossing projects in the past, including one in St. Charles County in 2024, two river crossings over the Mississippi River that went into service in 2021, and a project similar in size/scope to Grand Tower in 2017.

The Grand Tower substation has been in operation for more than 100 years.