Grain Belt Express hearings conclude with no decision

The Missouri Public Service Commission is considering Invenergy’s acquisition of the Grain Belt Express, an electric transmission line that would cut across eight Missouri counties.

Invenergy Senior Manager Beth Conley said she expects the commission to make a decision on the case sometime next year, however there is no time limit for the decision to be made. The commission wrapped up two days of hearings on the case Wednesday.

“We do expect to get a favorable decision in this case,” Conley said. “The Grain Belt Express would deliver low-cost clean and reliable energy while also creating jobs.”

The project would include high-voltage transmission lines across a section of northern Missouri as part of a route from wind energy fields in Kansas to Indiana. The Grain Belt Express has been at the center of legal battles for years and has met with opposition from some local governments and landowners in Missouri, including central Missouri counties. The line would be built across Buchannan, Clinton, Caldwell, Carroll, Chariton, Randolph, Monroe and Ralls counties.

It remains unclear whether all the land needed for the project must be acquired before financing can be completed.

The project was created by Texas-based Clean Line Energy Partners. Invenergy announced last month it plans to acquire “the development assets of Clean Line Energy Partners’ Grain Belt Express transmission project.”

The Missouri Farm Bureau is concerned the project could make it too easy for property owners’ land to be taken by eminent domain.

In July, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled in the project’s favor after the PSC initially denied the Grain Belt Express because the company hadn’t received permission from eight counties it was going to build across.

The PSC requested each party to submit reply briefs due in January.