JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – As the Grain Belt Express Clean Line seeks regulatory approval at the Missouri Public Service Commission, Wednesday marked the deadline for applications to intervene in the case.
A number of applications were submitted by groups supporting the project as part of a broad coalition of support and endorsements the group has sought.
“We are very pleased with the tremendous amount of support the Grain Belt Express Clean Line has received over the past few months,” said Mark Lawlor, Director of Development for Clean Line Energy. “A wide range of Missourians have come together to support the Grain Belt Express because they realize this free-market transmission line project presents a rare chance to save Missouri ratepayers millions of dollars, while significantly upgrading our electric grid.”
Among the applicants supporting the project were labor groups the Missouri AFL-CIO and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers; the Missouri Joint Municipal Electric Utility Commission, the Missouri Department of Economic Development; business associations like Missouri Retailers Association, Missouri Industrial Energy Consumers, Wind Coalition, Wind on the Wires; and environmental groups including the Natural Resources Defense Council, Renew Missouri and the Missouri Sierra Club.
Not all applicants support the project. The Missouri Farm Bureau opposes the project and in their application to intervene said eminent domain concerns were the principal reason for their opposition.
“Missouri Farm Bureau has long defended property owners and property rights in cases involving eminent domain takings of farms or ranches,” the application said. “MFB believes that the benefits claimed by Grain Belt do not justify the granting of eminent domain powers to Grain Belt. The interest claimed by Grain Belt is different than and is opposed to the general public interest.”
While several large retailers, including Target, have announced support for the Grain Belt Express, Wal-Mart filed an application to intervene saying it had not yet taken a position on the project.
The project would create a wind energy transmission line spanning from Kansas to Indiana, bringing electricity to Missouri and continuing to other states farther east. Grain Belt Express has already received regulatory approval in those states.
In Missouri, 67 municipalities have agreed to negotiate for energy from the transmission line, which expects to save ratepayers money.
PHOTO/Howard Rowe
