Ameren, others pour billions into preparing grid for wind energy

In its biggest construction effort in more than three decades, Ameren Corp. is undertaking a four-year building project that will add 380 miles of transmission lines and cost $1.4 billion. And that effort, called the Illinois Rivers project, is  just a small piece of the larger picture.

Ameren Transmission, a subsidiary of St. Louis-based utility Ameren Corp., will also add several hundred miles of power lines in two separate projects as utilities expect to see a surge in wind energy production.

It’s all part of a trend toward delivering wind energy — along with with solar energy — from where they’re most abundant — the Midwest and Southwest, respectively — to population centers. That trend will become even more pronounced if President Barack Obama’s proposal to cut carbon emissions is enacted.

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