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Sursee-Aviston Transmission Project

Improving energy reliability in your community

Ameren Transmission, in collaboration with the City of Highland, is proposing the Sursee-Aviston Transmission Project to improve energy reliability for local customers in Madison, Clinton and St. Clair counties. This project includes the construction of a new approximately 15-mile 138 kV transmission line to connect the existing Aviston substation in Clinton County to the new Sursee substation to be located west of Highland in Madison County. It includes upgrading the Aviston substation and will strengthen our grid by creating an additional pathway of energy.

New projects, like the Sursee-Aviston Transmission Project, help us serve, support and invest in our local and regional communities’ future energy needs.

Our goal is to have this project completed and providing reliable energy to the community by the end of 2025.

 

 

Project Overview

Project Routing & Public Process

View the Map of Preliminary Route Alternatives

Please click the link below to see a map of the preliminary route alternatives that were presented to the public at the December 2022 open houses. These route alternatives were defined based on the potential route segments presented to the public at the October 2022 open houses. The next step will be to narrow these route alternatives down and name one “preferred route” and “alternate route(s)” to present in the application to the Illinois Commerce Commission in the spring 2023.

 

Sursee Aviston interactive map screenshot.

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For a high-level overview of the Sursee-Aviston Transmission Project area, view the PDF below.
View Study Area Map

 

 

Why are we building this new line?

Currently, several communities in this area of Highland and Clinton, Madison and St. Clair counties are supported by one 138 kV transmission line. Continuing to rely on this sole transmission source in the event of a power outage would result in extended restoration times and community-wide impacts.

Project Benefits

The Sursee-Aviston Transmission Project will benefit the local area by:

  • Providing reliable energy for the City of Highland and Madison, Clinton and St. Clair County areas
  • Improving resiliency to minimize power outage impacts to local communities
  • Reinforcing local distribution electric service for homes, businesses and agricultural customers
  • Supporting continued area economic growth

Public and Stakeholder Involvement

We realize a large infrastructure project such as this may be challenging for our customers, and we are committed to working with the communities along the route to make the process as smooth as possible. Ameren Transmission is developing the Sursee-Aviston Transmission Project in a collaborative manner with landowners, community officials and agencies to develop a constructible route that minimizes impacts. To that end, we have designed a public engagement program to be responsive and considerate of public feedback.

Community Forums

Ameren Transmission hosted three Community Representative Forums in late September where insight was gathered from local community representatives, governing agencies, civic organizations and other community leaders. Information collected during these forums as well as future public open houses will be taken into consideration by the project siting team as they work to evaluate potential route segments for the new transmission line. Other factors reviewed by the siting team include land use, cultural resources, safety, reliability, cost, natural resources, visual resources and more.

Open Houses

We held two rounds of public open houses in late October and again in early December 2022 to introduce the project area and its many benefits to the impacted communities. During these meetings, subject matter experts from different departments of Ameren (such as engineering, real estate, siting, environmental, safety and construction) were available to answer questions about the project and collect public feedback. The open houses were held in Clinton, Madison and St. Clair Counties. The first round of open houses presented a series of potential route segments under consideration. The second round of open houses presented a range of route alternatives. Input collected during the second round of open houses is being factored into the selection of the preferred route as well as the alternate route (as needed).

Tentative Project Schedule

The project schedule below will be updated as major milestones are met. All items listed are pending regulatory approvals. Schedule is subject to change.
  • Gather public and agency input through three Community Representative Forums and six Public Open Houses
  • Route siting studies
  • Final route(s) identified
  • Engineering and permitting
  • File route(s) with Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC)
  • Certificate of Public Convenience & Necessity (CPCN) Decision
  • Environmental surveys and permitting
  • Easement acquisition process
  • Preconstruction activities
  • Construction
  • Project in service (December 2025)

Resources & Contact Information

We have a designated project hotline and email address that the public can use to get in touch with members of our project team. Download the Sursee-Aviston Fact Sheet (PDF). Have a question for our team? Please contact us using one of the methods below.

Phone

833.4.SURSEE (833.478.7733)

Email

Sursee-AvistonProject@Ameren.com

Mail

1901 Chouteau Avenue
St. Louis, MO 63103

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