Grain Belt Express, which will transport clean energy to Missouri, wins final approval

For years, Invenergy has been working through regulatory approvals and acquiring land easements to build the 800-mile high-voltage transmission line, which will carry renewable energy from wind-swept western Kansas across Missouri. The transmission line is expected to have the capacity of roughly four new nuclear power plants.
State regulators gave final approval Thursday to the owners of the Grain Belt Express transmission line to drop off thousands of megawatts of clean power in Missouri.

The decision by the Missouri Public Service Commission was the final regulatory approval Chicago-based Invenergy needed to begin the first phase of the line, to be built in Kansas and Missouri.

For years, Invenergy has been working through regulatory approvals and acquiring land easements to build the 800-mile high-voltage transmission line, which will carry renewable energy from wind-swept western Kansas across Missouri and Illinois to the Indiana border.

“Securing the necessary state regulatory approvals is another critical step toward Grain Belt Express bringing lower electric bills and greater reliability to consumers in Missouri and across the Midwest,” said Shashank Sane, executive vice president and head of transmission at Invenergy.