By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
Missouri Attorney General, Andrew Bailey, is demanding documents and information from Grain Belt Express, claiming the utility behind the green energy transmission line might have misled the Missouri Public Service Commission.
Bailey says his office is moving to stop Grain Belt Express from constructing its line across north-central Missouri.
“I am dead set against foreign corporations abusing eminent domain when there’s no benefit to the people of the state of Missouri,” Bailey tells KFEQmmunity in a guest appearance.
Bailey claims Invenergy has considerable foreign backing. The Attorney General says Invenergy either presented speculative evidence to the PSC that shouldn’t have been used.
“Or, a fraud was perpetrated on the people of the state of Missouri,” Bailey asserts, “But at the end of the day, we’re going to get to the bottom of it and hold any wrongdoers accountable.”
Bailey has issued a Civil Investigative Demand to Grain Belt Express, which demands documentation from Invenergy.
“Well, we certainly need to understand the evidence that they used when estimating the job-creation numbers that they presented to the Public Service Commission and the public,” Bailey says. “We want to know why they estimate that they’re going to reduce energy costs for Missouri.”
The action is being taken under the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act, which prohibits false promises, fraud, and overall deceptive business practices.
Bailey says the proposal to send wind-generated energy from Kansas through Missouri to the East Coast won’t benefit Missouri, but will burden Missouri landowners.
“I reject the notion that eminent domain can be used for purely corporate interests that don’t serve Missourians,” Bailey says. “That coastal elites, coming in to take farmland in Missouri, destroy family livelihoods and legacies, to pad the pockets of coastal elites. That’s not good for Missouri. I reject that that should ever be allowed under our laws.”
Bailey also has written the PSC, urging the commission to reevaluate its decision to approve the Grain Belt Express. The letter points out Invenergy made reference to a potential carbon tax that has not been approved on either the state or federal level.
“Because, again, I think one of two things happen: either the PSC relied on bad information or Grain Belt lied, and either way that Certificate of Convenience and Necessity should have never (been) issued, because they can’t demonstrate a benefit for Missourians and they based everything on faulty assumptions,” according to Bailey.
This latest action against the Grain Belt Express might be coming late in the game.
“This project was underway before I took office and so, we’re running to catch up with the train, but certainly we feel that we have a strong case to make.”
In a separate action, U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley has written Energy Secretary, Chris Wright, asking him to cancel the $4.9 billion loan that Invenergy secured during the Biden Administration.
You can follow Brent on X @GBrentKFEQ