MLM Counties News. Notices. Need-to-know Information.
A $2.2 billion, 780-mile transmission line designed to carry wind power from the high plains of Kansas to eastern power grids has gotten approval from regulators in three of the four states where the line is planned, but Missouri farmers are vowing to make sure their state doesn’t climb aboard.
Illinois regulators recently voted to approve the Grain Belt Express, joining Kansas and Indiana, The Kansas City Star reported.
The Missouri Public Service Commission denied Clean Line Energy’s application in July, saying the project wasn’t needed. The accompanying order noted farmers’ concerns about crops, pastures and difficulties in maneuvering large equipment around towers.
“We’re digging in, and we’re ready to fight,” Jennifer Gatrel said last week as she and her husband worked cattle on their ranch in Caldwell County, Missouri. “We beat ’em once and we’ll beat ’em again.”
Grain Belt Express is touted as a first-of-its-kind project and a major step in the fight for renewable energy against coal-fired power plants. Clean Line says it will provide low-cost electricity to consumers, including 200,000 homes in Missouri.
Chambers of commerce, labor unions and national environmental groups such as the Sierra Club support the project, noting the benefits of renewable energy, cleaner air, better health, tax dollars and jobs.
Clean Line has appealed for a rehearing before Missouri regulators, and project director mark Lawlor said the Illinois approval boosted Grain Belt’s chances.
“Three of the four states have said yes — clearly the landscape has changed,” Lawlor said.
But support in Illinois was far from unanimous, and opponents are hoping for a successful appeal there.
The state’s commerce commission voted 3-2 to approve the project, but opponents said written dissent could serve as a basis for appeal on the grounds that Clean Line received an expedited hearing even though it is not a public utility.
“We are not done fighting,” Illinois farmer Joe Gleespen said. “Missouri is an inspiration to us.”
Clean Line can go back to the Missouri Public Service Commission or seek remedy from the federal government, whose energy policy calls for increased wind power.
But Missouri farmers have made it clear they don’t want Grain Belt.
“Grain Belt is a business venture,” said Russ Pisciotta, a Caldwell County farmer and president of the statewide opposition group Block Grain Belt Express. “Clean Line is not a public utility to serve the common good.”
