Landowners Appealing ICC Ruling on Ameren Three Rivers Project

A group of landowners from Morgan, Sangamon and Scott counties have petitioned the ICC for rehearing of a portion of the massive Ameren Three Rivers Project.

The Morgan, Sangamon and Scott Counties Land Preservation Group is specifically targeting a proposed route from Meredosia to Pawnee. The path for this section of the Ameren Transmission Illinois Rivers Project has already been approved by the Illinois Commerce Commission.

On August 20, the Illinois Commerce Commission approved, in part, the project. In its decision, the ICC decided on the fates of several portions of the route, including the path between Meredosia and Pawnee. The Morgan, Sangamon and Scott Counties Land Preservation Group feels this portion deserves a second look.

Steve Rhea and Kelly Dodsworth, members of the land preservation group, say the new 345,000-volt transmission line can follow parallel to a 138,000-volt line that has been in place for more than 40 years. That existing line also travels in a more or less direct path from Meredosia to Pawnee.

“There’s a shorter route and it costs $36.8 million less and we think the ICC should take another look at it,” Rhea said.

“A look at it again, because their own staff recommended it,” Dodsworth added. “This needs to be readdressed.”
Rhea said farmers along the existing path already have to accommodate farming around utility lines, but argued that the new path would be more disruptive.

“There’s been a lot of money spent on tilling, it’s going to affect aerial application of the land for spraying fungicide or insecticide or any other operations because of these overhead lines,” he said.

Full story here.

If you think you may be affected by the Ameren Three Rivers Project and/or are interested in a free consultation, contact our eminent domain landowner attorneys at 1-888-318-3761 or visit us on the web at www.landownerattorneys.com.