"Grain Belt Express will be seeking regulatory approval for this plan, which would also allow for project construction to proceed prior to approval in Illinois. In the meantime, as the proposed changes do not affect the approved route, project development activities are proceeding based on existing regulatory approvals.”

Positive Energy: Pass it Along

Finally, 2020 has brought some significant challenges to the world. We believe that Positive Energy is needed now more than ever. Grain Belt will bring affordable power for families and businesses, jobs for workers, and local investment in school districts, and public services - that's positive energy. With everything going on in 2020, we want to pass along positive energy to you, and hope you do the same. These days we all need it.

For more information about the project visit the project website at www.GrainBeltExpress.com
and Follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/GrainBeltExpress.

With everything going on in the world right now, we couldn’t think of a better time to focus on the positives. We’d love to hear your stories. We’ll start – We’ve been working with landowners across the country to build clean, reliable, low-cost energy solutions for communities. Let’s keep that energy flowing! Tell us stories of positive energy being passed in your community.

Katie Hatfield-Edstrom
I've noticed more of those sidewalk share libraries pop up in our community lately. I love seeing them and so does my kiddo. The idea is so simple...give what you don't need anymore and take what you do. I've also seen small community pantries with non-perishables and small farmer stands. In times like this, it is nice to see people thinking of how they can share and help others out. I guess the food and books are just the Positive Energy that feeds our souls these days!

Make sure the branding slogan is in caps, Katie from HDR, Grain Belt's public relations contractor.  Nice touch!  I just hope some other HDR employee is using the GBE profile, and you're not talking to yourself.

The Commission in that case granted a Certificate of Convenience and Necessity (“CCN”) to Respondent Grain Belt, authorizing it to build the transmission project described in the Application filed by Grain Belt at the outset of that proceeding. However, one condition attached by the Commission to the CCN was as follows:  “If the design and engineering of the project is materially different from how the Project is presented in Grain Belt Express Clean Line LLC’s Application, Grain Belt Express Clean Line LLC must file an updated application with the Commission for further Commission review and determination.”  In a press release issued on August 25, 2020, Respondents announced plans for changes to the project which will clearly make it “materially different” from the one approved by the Commission in the CCN case. A copy of that press release is attached hereto as Exhibit 1, and is available to the public on the Grain Belt website: www.grainbeltexpress.com.

To Complainants’ knowledge, Respondents have not sought Commission permission to make any changes to the project as it was approved in the CCN case.

Inasmuch as Respondents have publically announced that they no longer plan to build the project for which the CCN was granted, at this point Grain Belt does not have a valid CCN to build anything in Missouri.

Invenergy’s press release also indicates that it plans to begin construction of the Missouri portion of the line before obtaining approval for the line from the Illinois Commerce Commission. However, another condition to the CCN imposed by this Commission was that Grain Belt could not begin construction in Missouri until it has obtained commitments for funding of the entire multi-state project.  Obviously Invenergy cannot obtain financing for the large segment of the project in Illinois, including the converter station there, without approval from the Illinois Commerce Commission.

In contrast, the project approved by the Commission was to deliver 500 MW to the converter station in Missouri, and 3,500 MW to the converter station near the Illinois/Indiana border for delivery to the PJM system. If 2,500 MW are delivered to Kansas and Missouri, then the total capacity for delivery into what the Commission found to be the more lucrative PJM market would be reduced from 3,500 MW to only 1,500 MW.

The drastic reduction in sales into the PJM system will obviously have a material impact on the economic viability of the project, as it was presented to the Commission by Grain Belt in the CCN case.

Respondents (Invenergy) and their land agents are now in the process of seeking easements from landowners on the right-of-way for the project as initially proposed. At the same time, Respondents are telling the public on their website (and possibly by other means as well) that Grain Belt currently has the right of eminent domain for the line in Missouri. Obviously, having the right of eminent domain would give Grain Belt a powerful advantage in its negotiations for the easements it is seeking. But if Grain Belt no longer has a valid CCN in Missouri, then Grain Belt and its agents are currently negotiating with landowners under false pretenses. Grain Belt’s continued pursuit of easements for a project for which it does not have a valid CCN, under threat of eminent domain, constitutes a violation of the Commission Order which initially granted the CCN.

The transmission line and associated wind generation (collectively referred to as “Grain Belt Express” or “Grain Belt”) are projected to create significant cost savings for electricity ratepayers in Kansas and Missouri.

Every week you open your browser, scan the headlines, and see something to the effect of, “fossil fuels are out and clean energy is in”. The recent court decision upholding the shutdown of the Dakota Access Pipeline and Dominion and Duke’s decision to abandon their Atlantic Coast pipeline project indicate a changing tide in how consumers and utilities view our energy future.

Most Americans want clean energy. People want electric vehicles and a cleaner environment. But, our policies on building the infrastructure to deliver this clean energy future have not caught up to public sentiment.

In June, the leading renewable energy trade associations made a goal to reach 50% renewable energy by 2030. Meanwhile, if elected, Joe Biden will push for a carbon-free power sector by 2035. Goals aside, the fact remains we need more transmission to move cheap wind and solar from more rural areas to load centers if we want to reach ambitious clean energy goals. We need a new wave of electron pipelines.

The Plains & Eastern transmission project exemplifies this problem. In 2009, Clean Line Energy Partners announced plans for a transmission line that would carry 4,000 MW of clean power from Oklahoma to load centers in the southeast and Mid-Atlantic. Years of navigating state and local regulations and gathering, then losing, federal support ensued.

By 2019, Clean Line had divested most of their transmission projects, including the Plains & Eastern Clean Line project, selling them off with the hopes someone else could overcome the endless regulatory and political battles associated with interstate transmission lines.

In addition to state input, there should be back-stop federal authority when transmission projects reach an impasse. The 2005 Federal Power Act attempted to give FERC this authority, but the rule framework was convoluted and limited in scope, leading to several court challenges. Through a clearer and more definitive act of Congress, FERC can serve as the final decision-maker when a transmission project cannot garner all permits from state and local authorities, or the permitting process is delayed beyond a year.
If the majority of a transmission line’s route has received proper permits, but a small portion has been denied or delayed by regulatory challenges, a transmission developer should be able to bring the case before FERC for final adjudication.

To address the aesthetic concerns of high voltage transmission lines, policy-makers can consider tax incentives or direct pay reimbursements for companies that bury their power lines near residences and towns or work with communities to design more aesthetically-pleasing structures.
To aid in the clean energy future, these incentives should only be available to power lines that predominately transfer renewable energy. This would allow transmission developers to accommodate the very real concerns of citizens and not break the bank.

Food is the key to a kitty's heart, however, the humans at Invenergy have underestimated the intellectual abilities of the average feline and the people who serve the cat kingdom.  We can read!  Where's the news stories?  Where's the colorful community advertising?  Where's the outdoor music festival where kitties and humans can cavort at a distance while enjoying music and speeches?  Where's the donations to food banks?  Where's the new parks being built for the communities?  Where's the cash donations to help the local schools with the added expense of distance learning?   Where's the catnip mice for the local animal shelter? There's plenty a "new owner" can do to win the hearts and minds of your average kitty.  Invenergy is failing to do anything to build trust with the communities in Missouri!  Without a pile of free ham, I simply cannot trust these people!
P.S.  That's not a grease stain.  My litter box needed changing.

Western Kansas and the surrounding area to customers in Missouri and other states in the region.

Meow!  Err... no.  I trust Invenergy about as much as I trust that smiling sadist at the veterinary clinic with the syrupy voice and greased fanny pole behind her back.

The developer of this clean energy infrastructure project has begun sending letters to landowners about the financial compensation they’re entitled to. Soon, rural Missourians will start to receive some of the more than $20 million that this project will pay to landowners over its life.
However, contributing landowners aren’t the only Missourians who stand to benefit from the Grain Belt Express Transmission Line.

Local energy suppliers will have the opportunity to use the more affordable electricity and pass the savings onto their customers. This will lower utility bills by more than $12 million every single year. 

The Grain Belt Express will also put a serious dent in the staggering unemployment rate by hiring 1,500 Missourians to work on the transmission line. While most infrastructure projects demand massive tax breaks in return for this level of job creation, the Grain Belt Express hasn’t asked for a single state incentive. In fact, it will inject more than $7 million into local communities through taxes. 

Economic stimulation on this scale is quite rare, but it should come as no surprise. Under new ownership by U.S.-based Invenergy, the Grain Belt Express has become much more than a means of transferring clean, renewable energy across the state. It also includes a plan to bring broadband internet to communities in need. 
Today, over 40 percent of counties in Missouri are without improved health care, education, business, communication, and entertainment because they lack broadband. Grain Belt Express aims to bridge the so-called “digital divide.”

Thanks to generous support from Breakthrough Energy, an organization founded by Bill Gates that is working to expand clean energy investment and innovation, the Macro Grid Initiative will undertake wide-ranging educational efforts in support of transmission expansion to connect areas with low-cost renewable resources to centers of high electric demand. This can be accomplished by connecting grid regions like MISO, PJM and SPP.

The Macro Grid Initiative seeks to build public and policymaker support for a new policy and regulatory environment that recognizes the substantial nationwide benefits of new regional and interregional transmission. Priority areas include:

An expanded nationwide and eastern grid with a focus on the regions of MISO, PJM and SPP.

The next round of regional and interregional transmission planning.

A fully planned and integrated nationwide transmission system.

A new Federal Energy Regulatory Commission transmission planning rule.

Achieving the Macro Grid vision will require new policies at the federal, regional and state levels that recognize the substantial nationwide benefits of an interregionally connected transmission network.

...reduce barriers to development...

...overcome the barriers to siting long-line transmission facilities...

...upgrade our nation's aging and creaky transmission network...

...connect all this clean energy to our homes...

...expand regional and interregional transmission...

... build a strong national power grid...

Michael Skelly, Founder, Clean Line Energy Partners; Senior Advisor, Lazard:
"Building out our grid brings jobs, efficient markets, and cheaper and cleaner power. No individual or company can do this alone. But together with a broad public and policy maker consensus I have no doubt it can and will be done. I'm excited to see ACORE and ACEG's Macro Grid Initiative take on this important effort."

Our Mission
We support access to broader vital services across the state through the promotion of innovative projects resulting in positive economic, environmental, and community impact.

Focus on What Matters, Inc. (the "Corporation") is a nonpartisan organization having as its primary purposes the following: (i) the education of our local communities on public policy, including economic policy, relating to local communities and governments; (ii) the education of the general public on economics and public policy; and (iii) generally advancing and preserving the rights and responsibilities of citizens to appreciate the benefits of and ensure the continued existence of competition, economic freedom, and free markets. Notwithstanding the foregoing, however, the corporation is organized exclusively for charitable, religious, educational, and scientific purposes, including, for such purposes, the making of distributions to organizations that qualify as exempt organizations under section 50l(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (or corresponding section of any future federal tax code).

NERA includes 12 company members and received $245,000 in total revenue in 2018, Public Citizen pointed out in its testimony. Contributions make up the entirety of the group's revenue, according to its 990 tax forms, averaging approximately $20,000 per member. 

"A $20,000 financial contribution to become a 'member' of the New England Ratepayers Association orients its membership more in line [with] a corporate trade association," Public Citizen wrote in its comments.

NERA describes itself as "an independent non-profit" that was "established to give a larger voice for the families and businesses that are served by regulated utilities." NERA's Brown did not respond to multiple Utility Dive questions about its funding and membership.

"NERA isn't some rag tag bunch of dreamers. They are a well financed corporate front group pursuing a smart, aggressive playbook," said Slocum.