6 years, 8 months ago by Scott Hardy
Third denial may be final attempt at approval
For a third, and likely final time, the Missouri Public Service Commission has denied a request from a Texas company to build the Grain Belt Express high-voltage power line across the state.
The Commission handed down the denial during its' meeting Wednesday in Jefferson City. Four of the five commissioners said they would have approved the line proposed by Clean Line Energy, except for a Missouri Western District Court of Appeals ruling on the Mark Twain Transmission Line in Northeast Missouri. That ruling rejected Ameren Transmission's request to build a line from Palmyra to the Iowa line, because the project was approved by the PSC before it was approved by five county commissions, including Marion, Shelby and Knox Counties. The route of that project has since been revised.
The Grain Belt Express would have carried wind energy from Kansas across northern Missouri, including Monroe and Ralls Counties. Clean Line, in an effort to gain approval, offered dozens of Missouri cities, including Hannibal, the chance to buy electricity from the line. Opponents of the project had numerous objections to the project, including the threat of eminent domain to take land for the project.
The full ruling by the PSC is available below.
