Missouri lawmakers are again seeking to block a multi-state high voltage transmission line for wind energy. The St. Louis Post Dispatch reports a new measure in the Missouri legislature would require Invenergy, the Grain Belt Express future transmission line owner, to receive approval from individual counties.
The move is one of many to block the project, as lawmakers seek to stop a private company from using eminent domain to take land for the project. The Grain Belt Express would take wind energy from Kansas through Missouri, Illinois and Indiana.
The Missouri Supreme Court earlier ruled the project be granted public utility status because the $2.3 billion project is in the public’s interest. The transmission line in Missouri is expected to cross the property of 570 landowners, stretching more than 200 miles across the northern sector of the state.
Invenergy says the project will play a major role in economic recovery in the Midwest by supporting jobs, adding broadband infrastructure, community investment and energy savings.