An Ameren transmission company asked the Macon County Circuit Court on Monday to condemn property, its third eminent domain petition in the county since August.
Ameren Transmission Company of Illinois, known as ATXI, filed the new case, 26MA-CC00064, electronically Monday evening with a petition for condemnation and 16 exhibits, according to the Case.net docket and the petition.
The petition seeks permanent, perpetual easements across 16 Macon County parcels for the DZTM Project, about 200 miles of new 345-kilovolt transmission lines across DeKalb, Daviess, Grundy, Sullivan, Adair, Knox, Lewis, Marion, Macon, and Randolph counties. The Missouri Public Service Commission granted ATXI a certificate of convenience and necessity for the project July 16, 2025, the petition said.
On each parcel, ATXI is seeking an easement in an anticipated 150-foot-wide strip where Union Electric Company, doing business as Ameren Missouri, already holds a 100-foot easement with a transmission line built in it, according to the petition.
Named owners include private citizens, farms, businesses, and Macon County Collector Rhonda Anno. As of Tuesday morning, Case.net listed no judge and no hearing in the new case.
ATXI filed the two earlier petitions Aug. 10 and Aug. 28. Between them, the court's party lists name 39 defendants. They include people with Callao, Macon, New Cambria, Atlanta, and La Plata addresses; others with addresses in Iowa, Kansas, Nevada, Virginia, and St. Charles; and several groups listed as unknown heirs or successors.
The Aug. 10 case also names MA Bank, formerly Macon-Atlanta State Bank; FCS Financial; Anno; and Thomas Hill Public Water Supply District No. 1 of Randolph County. The Aug. 28 case names Public Water Supply District No. 1 of Macon County, FCS Financial, and Anno.
Paul G. Henry, a St. Louis attorney, entered appearances Aug. 18 for eight of the defendants in the Aug. 10 case, the docket shows. His firm, Henry/Meuret, says on its website that it represents property owners in eminent domain cases. In the Aug. 28 case, St. Louis attorney Dan J. Kazanas entered appearances for two defendants.
Henry said in an email Tuesday that his clients are contesting only the amount of compensation, not ATXI's right to condemn. In most locations, he said, Ameren is seeking a 150-foot easement along an existing line that already has a 100-foot easement.
Ameren frames that as a 50-foot expansion of the existing easement, he said. Henry said his side views it as an entirely new 150-foot easement for different purposes, with the existing lines remaining and a new set of lines that require the wider easement.
Any utility crossing private property interferes with the owner's use, whether residential, agricultural, commercial, or recreational, Henry said. High-voltage transmission structures are unsightly and physically interfere with the use of the land, and many people consider them unsafe and unhealthy, he said.
Owners also worry about interference during construction, maintenance, and repairs. The easements are permanent, and owners are paid only once, he said.
Landowners faced with eminent domain should seek legal advice before signing anything, Henry said. Many firms offer a free initial consultation, he said. Some landowners fear they will lose their property without being paid.
"It is a process to ensure they are paid fairly," Henry said. Most cases settle before formal condemnation proceedings, he said.
Attorneys who regularly represent owners often work on a contingency fee based on the amount recovered over the company's offer, he said.
Judge Rick Tucker is assigned to both August cases. Case.net lists an 8 a.m. hearing in each on Wednesday, Oct. 7, in the judge's virtual courtroom.
Ameren's project page describes the same work as the Denny-Zachary-Thomas Hill-Maywood project. One segment rebuilds 44 miles of Ameren's existing corridor between the Zachary substation near Kirksville and Associated Electric Cooperative's Thomas Hill substation in Randolph County, the page says.
Ameren's schedule lists real estate work from mid-2025 through 2026, construction starting in spring 2027, and the lines in service in late fall 2029. A recent Chronicle report referenced Ameren's construction of a staging lot connected with the NEMO Fairgrounds in Adair County.
Before a judge can enter an order of condemnation, Missouri law requires the court to find that the company negotiated in good faith before filing. If the court does not, it must dismiss the petition and order the company to pay the owner's reasonable attorney fees and costs, according to Section 523.256 of state law.
If a condemnation goes forward, the court appoints three disinterested county residents as commissioners to assess the damages owners are owed, under Section 523.040.
When farmland is taken for an electric project that holds a commission certificate, at least one of the three must be a farmer who has farmed in the county for at least 10 years, the statute says.