Grain Belt Express, the long debated wind energy project, could be off the rails again
Just as the Grain Belt Express overcame a hurdle that had blocked it for years, a potential new one has emerged.
The Missouri Public Service Commission unanimously granted approval to the wind power transmission line last month, allowing the project to exercise eminent domain— the government’s power to take private property for a public use—for construction.
But legislation to block that ruling has advanced quickly through the Missouri House.
House Bill 1062, sponsored by Rep. Jim Hansen, R-Ralls County, would ban private companies from using eminent domain to construct “above-ground merchant lines.” It has passed through two committees and is now in line to be scheduled for floor debate by House Speaker Elijah Haahr.
And the Speaker supports the bill.
“In light of the recent PSC decision on the Grain Belt Express, the General Assembly will act to protect Missourians from private companies trying to seize their land through eminent domain,” Haahr said in a statement earlier this month. “The legislation the House is moving forward is vital for many Missourians who otherwise would be forced to allow unreasonable restrictions on their family farms, damaging the value of their land and taking away their private property rights.”
Missouri farmers, some of whom live on land their families have owned for more than 100 years, have fought back against the use of eminent domain, arguing that it hurts their land values and that the project doesn’t adequately benefit Missourians.
“I think in the situation with the Grain Belt Express, the problem is not that they need eminent domain. They are choosing not to negotiate with the landowners and pay what the landowners want,” Haahr said. “They want the government to force them to be able to get that at market value, so I think that’s the concern we have with that.”
The project would route power generated from the “Saudi Arabia of Wind” in western Kansas through Missouri and Illinois to Indiana where it would link with the Eastern power grid.
The project is owned by Clean Line Energies from Houston, but the Chicago company Invenergy announced last year it intended to take over the project. Invenergy is now seeking final approval from the PSC to take over the Grain Belt Express, The Star reported last month.
After years of studying the issue, the Public Service Commission ruled 5-0 on several points: the project is needed, the company behind it is qualified and has the money to finish the project, and the project “promotes the public interest.”
The PSC had been prevented from making a final ruling until the Missouri Supreme Court issued a ruling last summer. The March PSC action cleared the way for the venture to seek final approval from officials in each of the eight counties along the proposed route. Opponents said they plan to appeal the decision through the courts.
Melissa Sherman, a litigation attorney with Spencer Fane specializing in condemnation law, said eminent domain is commonly used to complete large transportation or utility projects.
“The larger the project is, the more, the more difficult it is to acquire what’s necessary for the right-of-way voluntarily,” Sherman said. The Grain Belt Express project is a standard one that the practice would be used for, she said.
“I’ve dealt with property owners before who’ve had utility companies come through who want to carve up their land and put lines in areas that are beautiful and as a result of the construction, they’re not going to look so beautiful anymore. So yes, that is an issue, too,” Sherman said.
But as long as the project serves a public purpose, she said, they have a legal justification for using eminent domain to make it happen.
Dennis Klusmeyer, superintendent of the city of Shelbina, said the use of eminent domain is a “necessary evil” to complete projects like the Grain Belt Express, and the language in the bill is vague enough that it could preclude the use of eminent domain for other important projects in the future.
If the legislation passes, “it would make it very tough” to complete the Grain Belt Express, Klusmeyer said in a conference call hosted by the Missouri Public Utilities Alliance with reporters. On the call, officials from the MPUA and from municipal electricity providers around the state advocated for the wind power project.
Officials on the call listed benefits the project would provide: The Grain Belt Express is contracted to provide electricity to Missouri for more than 20 years, and the 39 cities represented by their group would save $12.8 million annually for more than 350,000 customers with a capacity for a great deal of further growth.
The project will also benefit people beyond those who receive power directly from the line, said Mark Petty, Kirkwood’s electric director.
“Any time lower prices are injected in the market, we all benefit,” Petty said.
Officials on the MPUA conference call said lawmakers should review the extensive hearing transcripts and information that the PSC reviewed before making their decision. Lawmakers critical of the bill questioned why the legislature would preempt the commission tasked with making the decision.
“I can’t for the life of me come up with a justification for this bill,” said Rep. Peter Meridith, D-St. Louis, and a member of the General Laws Committee that heard the bill last week that would ban eminent domain in the wake of the Grain Belt Express ruling.
Ameren, KCPL and other private companies use eminent domain to build electric lines or oil pipelines all the time that don’t serve Missourians, Merideth said, but there’s not this much outcry over it.
The Public Service Commission studied this issue for five years with detailed hearings and heard from all stakeholders, Merideth said.
Meanwhile, he said, “We’ve had one hearing for a couple of hours.”
This story was originally published April 10, 2019 at 6:51 PM.