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Invenergy officials discuss road use agreement with county

By Greg Bebermeyer

09/08/2023

Brown County Courthouse

(KNZA)--Representatives of Chicago-based Invenergy met with the Brown County Commission Tuesday to discuss a road use agreement with the county for the Grain Belt Express transmission line project.

Meeting with the commission were Jason Brown, director of land and community affairs with Invenergy, along with Invenergy attorney Andrew Schulte.

Brown said construction on the 800-mile line, which is to deliver up to 4,000 megawatts of wind-generated power from southwest Kansas to eastern states, is scheduled to begin in the 4th quarter of 2024. The line will go through 14 Kansas counties—including locally, Brown, Doniphan, Marshall and Nemaha.

So far, Brown said they have acquired right-of-way easements for about 90 percent of the route in Kansas and Missouri. He said they are still in the process of obtaining a general contractor for the $7 billion project, which is to be constructed in phases.

Brown said he believes the road use agreement provides good protections for the county. He said the roads would not take the wear and tear that building a wind farm would entail, as they aren't traveling in with heavy loads such as big wind turbines. He said the transmission stations would be brought in pieces and put together on site.

Commissioners suggested some wording changes they would like to see made to the agreement, which they will consider for approval when they meet Monday, September 11th.

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