SPRINGFIELD, IL – Thousands of central Illinois constituents could be negatively affected by a proposed Ameren transmission line that will stretch the entire state, according to State Sen. Chapin Rose (R-Mahomet) and State Rep. Wayne Rosenthal (R-Morrisonville).
“This week, Rep. Rosenthal and I took the initiative to convene a meeting of all the legislators whose districts have constituents that could be negatively impacted by this project,” Rose said. “There are a lot of unanswered questions and we need a thorough, frank, and contemplative process.”
“I recently held a meeting for constituents in my district to voice their concerns and express how the proposed transmission lines would affect them,” Rosenthal said. “The group of legislators Senator Rose and I talked with this week have discussed those concerns and the process of the project. As a group, we are going to closely monitor the situation and begin researching the process in order to better understand how we can help.”
Senator Rose and Representative Rosenthal convened a teleconference on Jan. 23 with a bipartisan, bicameral coalition of lawmakers to address constituent concerns. Ameren wants to build a new multi-state, high voltage transmission line that would run from Marion County, Missouri to Vigo County, Indiana, and Illinois counties in-between. The line would affect 10 counties represented by the lawmakers in the 51st Senate District and 95th Representative District.
Community leaders are worried about potential lost land values and impact on agricultural interests. Residents question why Ameren needs to build the new transmission line across the proposed area when several other service lines already exist.