By AP/KWMU
Jefferson City, MO – State regulators have cleared the way for
construction of a new high-voltage power line across mid-Missouri.
The Public Service Commission has approved a $25-million, 54-mile transmission line to be built by Ameren UE, the largest electric company in the state.
The power line is intended to relieve frequent overloading on an existing line and lessen the likelihood of a failure -- similar to the blackout that occured last week in parts of the Midwest and Northeast.
Property owners in the path of the proposed power line had fought against it.
But commission chairman Kelvin Simmons says he determined the new electric line is in the public interest. Also voting with
Simmons was commissioner Connie Murray.
The lone "no" vote was cast by Steve Gaw.