Empire District – Liberty Utilities getting $47M to strengthen power grid

A southwest Missouri-based utility is getting a large chunk of money from the federal government to upgrade its electric grid. 

Empire District, also known as Liberty Utilities, will be receiving more than 47 million dollars from the Department of Energy to install 261 new and 49 existing auto reclosers throughout Empire District’s service areas. 

Those areas cover a large section of southwest Missouri, along with portions of Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. 

Auto reclosers are a type of circuit breaker used at electric substations and are considered essential to “smart grid” technology.