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Transmission line in works despite federal listing

By Brian Hagen

12/19/2024

(MSC News)--The Federal Department of Energy- announcement this week that ten proposed National Interest Electric Transmission Corridor projects have been scaled down to three, none of which will run through Kansas, will not keep the Grain Belt Express transmission line from being built.

A release from the Kansas Corporation Commission explains that the Grain Belt Express transmission line, approved by the Kansas Corporation Commission in 2011, will continue through the state regulatory process.

While the route of the Grain Belt Express project fell within the borders of one of the proposed DOE corridors, its status as a previously approved project has not changed and is moving forward. In addition, without a Federal Corridor designation, State jurisdiction and approval processes remain intact for the Grain Belt Express and the KCC will continue to review any potential future projects.

Federal “backstop” siting authority or the use of federal eminent domain are not an option.

The DOE- decision does not reverse the previously announced $4.9 billion conditional loan guarantee awarded to the Grain Belt Express project on November 25, 2024.

As proposed, the line would go through 14 Kansas counties, including locally, Brown, Doniphan, Marshall and Nemaha.

Members of the Kansas Federal Delegation, including Republican Senators Jerry Moran and Roger Marshall, have held efforts to see the controversial project ended.

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