The Kansas Corporation Commission recently approved a transmission project to be located in southeast Kansas.
The Grain Belt Express transmission project — owned by Invenergy Transmission – will be constructed in two phases. The first phase will run from Kansas to the Missouri interconnection point, which the energy company said will allow Kansas to realize the economic benefits of the line more quickly.
A Grain Belt Express press release stated that the project will open a path to market for 100 percent domestic wind and solar energy produced in Southwest Kansas, while creating 19,350 direct Kansas jobs from construction of the line and the new generation it is expected to enable.
“When regulated utilities build a transmission line, that gets put into the cost structure for the Southwest power pool and ultimately a portion of it is billed back to Kansas,” said Paul Snider, a public affairs representative for Kansans for Lower Electric Rates. “This line is being built by a private entity outside of that cost recovery process. It will be paid for by whomever Invenergy finds to use the line. It’s designed to move Kansas renewables out of the state, and that’s a good model for Kansas because customers don’t have to pay for it.”
Grain Belt Express announced its proposal last summer to increase capacity on the line by 25 percent to 5,000 megawatts, with a total project investment of approximately $7 billion. A press release from the project states that this will help meet the strong regional demand for affordable and reliable power.
The project reconfiguration and phasing proposal has been approved or acknowledged by state regulatory commissions in Indiana in January, Illinois in March, and now Kansas. The only remaining state, Missouri, held evidentiary hearings into the Grain Belt Express request in June and is expected to issue a decision by late summer.
“Grain Belt Express will bring more reliable and affordable power to Midwest families and businesses, and will strengthen national security by increasing our domestic energy supply. The approvals over the last several months by regulators in Kansas and Illinois are crucial milestones and continue the project’s significant momentum,” said Shashank Sane, executive vice president and head of transmission at Invenergy, in a press release. “Long-distance energy transmission is the missing link that will allow the Midwest to boost our homegrown energy supply to meet demand, improve affordability, and greatly enhance reliability. This approval brings the Grain Belt Express one step closer to providing these critical benefits and becoming a historic energy infrastructure solution for the nation’s heartland.”
According to Grain Belt Express, the Kansas approval is just one of several key Grain Belt Express milestones that have taken place over the past year, including:
- In January 2023, Grain Belt Express selected Siemens Energy Inc. to supply the high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission technology for Phase 1 of the 800-mile project.
- In March 2023, the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) voted to grant Grain Belt Express a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN), marking the successful conclusion of a 2-year public input and review process.
- In April 2023, Invenergy Transmission announced a long-term supply agreement with Prysmian Group North America to supply up to 12,500 miles of domestically manufactured overhead conductor cable through 2029 to support Invenergy’s portfolio of long-distance high-voltage direct-current transmission projects, including Grain Belt Express. As part of the agreement, Invenergy Transmission will provide upfront capital, which will allow Prysmian to invest $22.5 million to expand its existing Williamsport, Pennsylvania, manufacturing facility.
- This month, Grain Belt Express surpassed 88% of the easements needed for the Phase 1 HVDC portion of the project.
Kansans can stay up to date on the project by visiting www.grainbeltexpress.com.
