Smart Energy Plan

October 22, 2025

Powering Progress and Reliability in Western Missouri

Crews upgrade 66-year-old transformer supporting 1,400 customers.

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Ameren Missouri is making critical improvements to a substation that has been serving the community of Lawson for more than half a century. The substation transformer, which was originally installed during the Eisenhower administration, had reached the end of its useful life and was showing signs of deterioration.

Upgrading this transformer supports reliability for 1,400 customers by reducing the chance of equipment failure. The new transformer resolves voltage regulation issues and increases substation capacity to better respond to days of high energy demand. It also reduces annual maintenance costs for the substation.

Upgrades to aging infrastructure, like this transformer, are a key feature of the Smart Energy Plan. Ameren Missouri has upgraded nearly 150 substations since 2019, and this is at least the third substation upgrade in the area. The substation in Wood Heights was equipped with automated smart switch technology, and modern fault protections were added to a substation in Lathrop. Together, these Smart Energy Plan investments support reliability for more than 5,000 customers.

“These substation upgrades are just one part of our efforts to improve service in the area,” says Jason Haynam, senior manager of Ameren’s Central Missouri division. “We are also adding smart switch technology to overhead lines, which rapidly detect and automatically isolate damage. This limits outages and helps speed restoration.”

The Lawson upgrade also highlights another important aspect of the Smart Energy Plan. The new transformer was manufactured in Washington, Missouri by WEG Transformers USA. WEG, which has supplied more than two dozen transformers for Smart Energy Plan upgrades, recently announced an expansion of its operations due to demand for its power transformers. Since 2019, Ameren Missouri has partnered with more than 1,200 Missouri-based suppliers across 60+ counties on Smart Energy Plan projects.

The upgraded Lawson substation was placed in service in October 2025. To learn more about how the Smart Energy Plan is supporting reliability in Missouri, visit Ameren.com/Reliability.