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Oasis Entertainment Complex Will Need As Much Power As The Entire City Of Osage Beach

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  • 1 min to read

video by LakeExpo, with drone footage courtesy Ameren

OSAGE BEACH, Mo. — More power for the Oasis. That was the catalyst for a massive upgrade to an electric substation in Osage Beach last month.

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On Thursday, Aug. 29, with a small gathering of government officials, developers, and Ameren personnel looking on, a giant crane carefully lifted each of two new transformers and set them into place at the Grand Glaize Substation.

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It was a major moment for the area's infrastructure, and it was needed largely due to the development of the $400 million Oasis at Lakeport entertainment complex.

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The Oasis's power needs will be enormous.

Ameren Public Relations spokesperson Cassidy Moody confirmed for LakeExpo that the Oasis complex would require as much electric capacity as the rest of the city of Osage Beach. A large portion of that is due to the power requirements of the planned roller coaster.

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However, Ameren says the upgrade will also increase electric reliability for 1,400 customers in the area — some of whose homes went dark for a full day during a weather-related blackout in December 2022. At that time, Ameren acknowledged the age of the grid equipment contributed to the blackout. The Aug. 29 Grand Glaize Substation upgrade is one of several upgrades the utility company has made in the Lake area in recent years.

The Upgrade

Mitch Ditter, Ameren Senior Manager - Central Missouri, explained the substation was 70 years old. The 6-megavolt-amp (MVA) transformer on site was replaced with two 22MVA units.

The improvements will result in a 600% increase in substation capacity. Approximately one mile of lines will also be upgraded to improve reliability.

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Ameren - transformer Large.jpeg

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Oasis developer Jeff Tegethoff addressed the small group at the event. "We could have put our half-a-billion dollar investment in many different states in the region," he said. "We chose Missouri, chose Lake of the Ozarks area because of access to power. The biggest impediment to economic development, real estate development across the country remains access to power and other utilities." Tegethoff concluded, "So we're proud to say our project is powered by Ameren."

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