Kansas wind energy has suffered a setback with a regional power pool&rsquo;s move to drop a high-voltage transmission line in the state from its list of priority projects.</p><p>The $700 million line, which was to be up and humming by 2013, would ship wind energy to other states and was a crucial part of plans to expand Kansas&rsquo; wind industry.</p><p>The strategic planning committee of the Southwest Power Pool, which oversees the transmission grid in all or parts of Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Arkansas, recently recommended four other projects as priorities and excluded the Kansas line. Those recommendations could be endorsed today at a meeting of the pool&rsquo;s board in Tulsa.</p><p>The move, which could help the wind industries in Oklahoma and other states, was called shocking by some involved in getting the Kansas power line built. </p><p>Westar Energy, one of the partners in the proposed power line, said it was preparing a formal response to the Southwest Power Pool. </p><p>&ldquo;It really kind of squashes any future renewable development,&rdquo; said Karla Olsen, a spokeswoman for the utility.</p><p>Gov. Mark Parkinson, who considers alternative energy a key issue for his administration, wrote to the power pool&rsquo;s directors to urge them to restore the Kansas line to the priority list.</p><p>&ldquo;I am concerned that any delay in this project may restrict our entire region&rsquo;s ability to provide an important energy source to the nation,&rdquo; he wrote.</p><p> A Southwest Power spokeswoman, Emily Pennel, said the four other projects were recommended for board approval after a cost-benefit analysis. The Kansas project would &ldquo;continue to be looked at,&rdquo; she said.</p><p>Parkinson in his letter said he found the decision surprising.</p><p>&ldquo;While I understand the need for thorough study, the benefits of this project have been well-documented, and it has ranked high on the Southwest Power Pool priority project list for some time,&rdquo; he wrote.</p><p>Supporters of the Kansas power line fear that even a delay in the line could make it difficult for the state&rsquo;s plans to expand wind energy.</p><p>ITC Great Plains, which builds transmission lines and is another partner in the Kansas project, said it would continue to push for it.</p><p>The quasi-governmental Southwest Power Pool is mandated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to ensure reliable supplies of power, adequate transmission infrastructure, and competitive wholesale prices of electricity. Its members are power cooperatives, producers, marketers and utilities, including Westar and Kansas City Power & Light.</p><p>Kansas is rated as having the third-best potential for wind energy in the U.S. and will have about 1,000 megawatts of wind power by the end of the year. This amount, the state hopes, could grow to roughly 7,000 megawatts by 2030. </p><p>The state&rsquo;s plans hinged on improving the Kansas electric grid to get the energy to other parts of the country that could use it in the future.</p><p>The 765,000-volt line in Kansas was meant to fix that for the state, with the highest capacity of any transmission line west of the Mississippi River. The line would go from Spearville, the site of a wind farm in southwest Kansas, and Wichita to the Oklahoma border, where it could hook into lines to other states, including those in the Southeast. But the future of the power line &mdash; and the state&rsquo;s wind industry &mdash; is now uncertain.