Ameren : Missouri unveils new St. Francois Operating Center
AEE
Modern facility will support reliability, faster response times for customers
PARK HILLS, Mo. (March 28, 2025) - Today, Ameren Missouri announced the opening of its new, state-of-the-art operating center in Park Hills. The St. Francois Operating Center is a substantial upgrade to area operations, supporting faster restoration times and greater reliability for customers across the county and throughout Missouri.
The new facility replaces an existing operating center in Park Hills, which was in service for more than 60 years.
"The old operating center served us well, but it was in need of extensive and costly repairs," said Russ Burger, director of the Southeast Missouri division at Ameren Missouri. "Building a new facility was more cost-effective than rehabilitating the old one. The new operating center is also located closer to Highway 67, which will help crews respond to outages faster."
The new facility brings all 40 Ameren Missouri co-workers in the area under one roof for streamlined operations, making it easier for teams to collaborate on repairs, upgrades and maintenance. It includes larger outdoor storage for essential equipment like poles and wires, as well as a larger space for transmission materials that will serve all of Missouri.
"This facility isn't just supporting improved response times in St. Francois County but for all our Missouri customers," said Burger. "In fact, transmission supplies from St. Francois County were critical to restoring power throughout the state following a tornado outbreak earlier this month. This facility will play an important role in ensuring safe, reliable electric service for decades to come."
The new St. Francois Operating Center is one of many critical infrastructure investments Ameren Missouri is making through the Smart Energy Plan. These investments include stronger poles, upgraded power lines and smarter technology to reduce outages and respond faster when they do occur. In 2025, Smart Energy Plan investments have already helped prevent more than 100,000 customer outages in Missouri.
To learn more about Ameren Missouri's reliability investments, visit AmerenMissouri.com/SmartEnergyPlan.
About Ameren Missouri Ameren Missouri has been providing electric and gas service for more than 100 years, and the company's electric rates are among the lowest in the nation. Ameren Missouri's mission is to power the quality of life for its 1.3 million electric and 135,000 natural gas customers in central and eastern Missouri. The company's service area covers approximately 60 counties and more than 500 communities, including the greater St. Louis area. For more information, visit Ameren.com/Missouri or follow us at @AmerenMissouri or Facebook.com/AmerenMissouri.
Disclaimer
Ameren Corporation published this content on March 28, 2025, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via , unedited and unaltered, on March 28, 2025 at 18:12 UTC .