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Green Light for Massive Ameren Project

Wikipedia

Illinois regulators have signed off on the route for a high-voltage transmission line that would run through 19 counties, traveling from Quincy to the Indiana border.

The Illinois Commerce Commission on Thursday approved the final route for the 375-mile-long line known as the Illinois Rivers Project.

Ameren Transmission Company of Illinois has said the $1.1 billion project is needed to improve the power grid's reliability and efficiency.

The transmission line will affect about 8,400 landowners.  The line will be about 150-feet wide and will have 80 to 90-foot tall poles on 12-foot wide concrete bases. The company says that's to allow landowners to use land for farming or grazing.

Construction is set to begin this year, and sections could be in use by 2016.