Safeguarding Reliability and Powering Growth

At Liberty, we’re powering growth and progress across our Four-State electric service area.

Recent and upcoming infrastructure upgrades are designed to make the grid more resilient and strengthen electric service for our 190,000-plus customer connections.

From new substations to stronger power lines and poles, every improvement we make is designed to keep your lights on, our communities thriving, and your service safer and more reliable than ever.

To increase capacity to support energy demand and protect reliability, Liberty has upgraded or rebuilt 23 substations in our service area over the last few years.

Those projects include:

Tipton Ford, Missouri: The latest project to be completed was the demolition and rebuild of the Tipton Ford substation. 

It allowed us to replace aging infrastructure, modernize the equipment to support reliability and better meet current energy demands, and prepare the substation for future growth as businesses and neighborhoods in Joplin, Neosho, and the area expand. The two-phase project involved energizing two separate sets of transmission lines. The 69 kV lines were energized last summer. The 161 kV system, which flows from east to west, was energized in December. 2025. 

Gentry, Arkansas: In December 2024, Liberty joined local officials and legislators to celebrate the completion of the new substation in Gentry – an area experiencing tremendous growth. Read more.

Webb City, Missouri: Substation 432 went into service in late 2023 following an overhaul designed to replace 30-year-old equipment and improve capacity to serve residential and commercial customers. This supports reliability and economic development activities.  Read more.

Greenfield, Missouri: Completed in 2023, the new electrical substation was designed to support the growing community. The previous substation served the area with two different distribution voltages and structures dating back to the 1950s. Putting the entire city on one voltage helps Liberty to more quickly and efficiently restore service in the event of an outage. Read more.

Joplin, Missouri: A rebuild of the substation on East 32nd Street was completed in September of 2022. The project was focused on improving reliability for an area seeing residential and commercial growth.

In the fall of 2025, we celebrated the replacement of two aging generators at Liberty’s historic power plant in Riverton, Kansas. The new industrial gas turbines are 35- to 40-percent more efficient and more reliable.

Besides increasing our ability to deliver reliable electric service to our customers, the project will also greatly improve winter weather operations. The main transformer, which will take energy from the generators and step it up to voltages needed for transmission, is on the way. The units are expected to be in service by August 2026. 

The project is expected to be completed in 2026. Read more about it here.

Work continues in our efforts to improve the wastewater system in Bolivar, Missouri.

We began smoke testing in the summer of 2024 and again in 2025, which involves introducing non-toxic smoke into the wastewater piping system to find leaks or cracks where stormwater and groundwater were entering. Coordinating with operators and contractors, nearly two-thirds of a mile of clay pipe was replaced with PVC piping by the end of 2025, along with about a dozen damaged and aged manholes. 

In addition to improved wastewater pipes, the wastewater plant will need upgrades, as some of the equipment is at the end of its life. Our engineering contractor will conduct a flow study this spring, using metering devices that will get accurate readings across multiple storms to determine the proper size for the treatment plant. 

A 10-year timeline for this work was established when Liberty applied to the DNR for the Abatement Order of Consent in 2024. 

Read more about the project by clicking here.

By upgrading our transmission lines in key areas, Liberty can reduce transmission costs while improving reliability for our customers. These projects also help address rising energy demand – helping Liberty to meet current and long-term energy needs.  

Missouri: Liberty will make a major investment in our regional electric transmission system with the addition of 90 miles of 345 kV lines and the rebuilding or conversion of 79 miles of 161 kV lines. The three-phase project is expected to take five years to complete. Read more.

Joplin, Missouri: A major upgrade to five miles of 161 kV line – stretching west from Schifferdecker Avenue in Joplin to Liberty’s State Line power station – was completed in December 2025. The project includes replacing wooden structures with stronger steel counterparts and switching from single to bundled conductors, which will increase the line’s carrying capacity and improve reliability.

Riverton, Kansas: In early 2023, crews energized one of our largest transmission projects, doubling the capacity of one of the most overloaded lines in the Southwest Power Pool. Twenty-six miles of line and the infrastructure to support it were built, starting in Riverton and extending to the Labette and Cherokee County line. Read more.

Liberty recently celebrated the completion of Red Rock Well No. 2 – a much-needed investment made to better serve customers on the Venice on the Lake system in Taney County with increased water capacity, and reliability. 

Following approval by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources and successful completion of an environmental study at the site selected for the new well, work began in 2024 to clear the site of trees and begin drilling - more than 1,000 feet through hard Missouri stone.

While the well’s completion was a major milestone, work isn’t finished just yet. 

The next phase of the project will see the installation of an above-ground water tank that will stand more than 180 feet tall and have the capacity to hold 100,000 gallons of water. That work is expected to conclude in 2028. 

Liberty crews and contractors continue the work throughout the area of updating aged piping with modern materials properly installed so that they serve customers for decades to come. 

Safety starts with the poles that hold up your power lines.

Our electric service region - which includes areas in Southwest Missouri, along with Northwest Arkansas, Southeast Kansas, and Northeast Oklahoma - has approximately 220,000 utility poles. Approximately 17,000 poles are inspected annually as part of a 12-year inspection cycles. During this process, our team identifies poles that need replaced or reinforced.

Since 2022, we've replaced more than 5,800 poles, helping keep your power safe and reliable. Learn more.

We love our feathered friends, though their tendency to flock to electric substations and occasionally cause significant outages is an issue.

In 2023, Liberty team members constructed nesting boxes to keep the birds safe and the power flowing. Learn more.

Squirrels and other critters also cause their fair share of outages, which is why Liberty launched an ongoing effort to install protective coverings designed to protect our equipment and animals. Learn more.

Find out more about Liberty’s efforts to safeguard reliability while protecting wildlife and habitats throughout the area by clicking here.