Officials say utility territorial decision could limit Boonville’s industrial growth

City economic-development staff and councilors told the Boonville City Council that a territorial determination approved by the Missouri Public Service Commission has effectively left COMO with primary service territory for many potential expansions, limiting Ameren’s ability to commit to new industrial power service in parts of northern Cooper County.

“...they have essentially ceded all of their ability to serve any expansion that Boonville might have,” economic-development staff member Jim said, summarizing follow-up from an Ameren meeting and the commission’s decision. He said the outcome means service availability is site-specific and that COMO is building a new substation to serve northern Cooper County, but that the timeline and resulting capacity are not yet known.

Council members and staff discussed the practical effects: developers and the city often rely on a utility’s ability to confirm needed megawatt capacity; without clear commitments, major industrial prospects can be routed elsewhere. Jim said staff will continue the site‑specific inquiry process — sending requests to providers to confirm whether they can serve a given site — and gather examples showing denied service requests to document any pattern of constrained capacity.

The administrator and councilors noted that while COMO is expanding infrastructure, there is no blanket guarantee for prospective loads and that economic growth planning must account for the uncertainty. Staff said further investigation and compiled case examples would be brought to council to help shape any next steps.