Downtown Joplin, Missouri, is wired for growth, following completion of a two-year electric infrastructure project.
Designed to improve electric service reliability, the work focused on the downtown area – north to south from A Street to 15th Street, and west to east from Porter Avenue to Illinois Avenue. Liberty and its contractors have worked together on upgrades that allow crews to restore power more quickly in the event of an outage, as well as reduce the number of customers affected by outages.
Modernizing the infrastructure – some of it dating back to the 1940s – also supports economic growth in the city’s business district, which is seeing increased energy consumption from businesses and residents.
Project highlights include:
- Converting 4 kV distribution line to 12 kV line, which has 3.5 times as much electrical capacity. The 4 kV system was outdated and some of the downtown circuits were not compatible with 12 kV systems in other parts of the city.
- Replacing 139 poles, 418 crossarms, and 562 transformers. Many wooden poles have been replaced with metal counterparts designed to better withstand severe weather.
- Two new substations were built in the downtown area, replacing three older substations that had aged past their ability to meet the current demand.
“This project helps strengthen our system to improve service reliability for our Joplin customers and allow for economic growth, both of which are important to Liberty and our community,” says Tim Wilson, Vice President, Electric Operations of Liberty Central Region.