Ameren looks to make 250-megawatt solar energy expansion.

CALLAWAY COUNTY — Callaway County remains an attractive target for solar energy, with Ameren Missouri being the most recent company to file for a public service commission certificate to construct 30 miles of solar panels on land near its nuclear power facility.

“One of the lowest-cost ways to have the least impact on customers is to use solar, wind, or other forms. But you also want to have some geographic diversity there. So, we look all over the state so that if it’s cloudy on a day in one area, it may not have quite the impact on a different area. And that’s all just with the reliability in mind on the grid. Yeah, so that’s another great reason why we chose the Callaway energy center and the land around it,” said Chuck Roberts, Ameren project manager.

Mid-Missouri Landowner’s Alliance representative, Susan Barns, highlighted ongoing concerns within the rural community and reiterated opposition to the solar expansion, citing potential effects on the agricultural economy and landscape.

“We have 88,000 acres leased right now to come into Missouri and be developed. That’s a lot of acreage to lose, and it will affect our agricultural economy greatly. With agriculture bringing in about a million dollars for every thousand acres of cropland, where we will not have anywhere near that with the solar farms,” said Barns.

In response to these concerns, Roberts emphasized that the 250-megawatt project aims to supply energy to approximately 44,000 homes and create an estimated 300 jobs at the peak of construction, presenting economic and energy benefits.

“A lot of those, the areas where we’re going to have the arrays will be behind tree lines and off the road. We have good setbacks for a certain distance from the road that we built before. And by keeping it, you know, we’re not taking out the tree lines that block the roads. It should be relatively unintrusive to those around the area,” said Roberts.

With solar projects from Savion energy and ranger power already underway in Callaway County, Barns expressed the alliance’s wanting to put on the legislative brakes.

“So, it’s kind of an uphill battle for us to get legislation passed, and we will be working with Senator Fitzwater and Representative Hayden again this year to put forward another bill,” said Barns.

Roberts, additionally, noted that Ameren conducted an investigation to potentially expand nuclear energy at its Callaway Energy site as well.