Ameren Missouri wants to construct a nearly 30-mile transmission line through Callaway and Montgomery counties, prompting concerns from the Missouri Farm Bureau and some landowners.
In order to build the new line, the electric utility needs to expand its footprint by acquiring land from 94 property owners along the route. The company is going through the process of earning approval from the Missouri Public Service Commission, the state agency that regulates corporate utilities.
Late last month, the Missouri Farm Bureau became party to Ameren’s case before state utility regulators to build the powerline that would eventually connect to the much-challenged multi-state Grain Belt Express.
If approved, the nearly 30-mile mid-Missouri line adjacent to Interstate 70 would meet up with another proposed powerline called the “Tiger Connector” and then so on to the Grain Belt Express, a high-voltage transmission line intended to carry energy from Kansas, through Missouri and Illinois, to Indiana. But Farm Bureau President Garrett Hawkins said he thinks Ameren’s plan is premature.
“It's only needed if there is a Tiger Connector line in place, and at this point there isn't a Tiger Connector, and there can't be a Tiger Connector until there's a main line for the Grain Belt Express,” Hawkins said. “So it seems like the cart is before the horse.”
The Grain Belt Express has been touted as the “biggest transmission line in U.S. history” and is expected to add 5 gigawatts of energy to the system – the equivalent of four nuclear power plants — according to Invenergy, the company behind the project.
Largely due to concerns of landowner property rights, Missouri Farm Bureau officials have consistently spoken out against the Grain Belt Express.
“We continue to oppose an out of state company coming into Missouri, being granted the use of eminent domain to acquire private property and profit on the backs of our landowners for decades to come,” Hawkins said. “We believe that's wrong.”
Hawkins said by participating in the case, his organization will push for transparency on the proposed powerlines and the larger transmission project it would feed.
“Ameren Missouri has a long history of constructively engaging with stakeholders when building energy projects in our state,” Ameren project manager Sam Gardner said in a statement to KBIA. “We are required by federal regulation to develop this grid infrastructure that will support new, third-party energy sources.”
Gardner has previously said Invenergy is “paying for the vast majority of this upgrade.” In testimony submitted to the Missouri Public Service Commission, Gardner highlighted benefits the new line could bring to local energy users.
“The Project will increase transmission capacity that ensures energy reliability and resiliency for Ameren Missouri customers by providing flexibility to re-route power during outages while crews safely make repairs,” Gardner said. “The additional transmission capacity will also support economic development opportunities to Ameren Missouri customers.”
Living among the lines
When attorney Brent Haden talks to urban or suburban residents about concerns over transmission lines in rural communities, he stresses that they’re unique.
“These are not standard model, residential style electrical lines that run power to your house that are in every neighborhood,” Haden said. “These are these massive overhead lines that you probably have only seen, if you're a suburban or urban resident, when you come out (to) the country.”
Haden, a Missouri Farm Bureau member, said high-voltage transmission lines can be a "massive inconvenience” for landowners. He’s litigated a number of eminent domain cases between rural landowners and power companies. Ameren’s proposed mid-Missouri transmission project hits close to home for him, literally.
“This has obviously become a lot more personal because it's going to cross my property, and so I'm now living through what lots of people I've worked with and helped over the years have also gone through,” he said.
Haden manages a herd of cattle and horses on his land in Callaway County. An Ameren transmission line currently runs through the property and the utility plans to build a new 30-mile powerline parallel to the existing infrastructure.
Ameren will need a 150-feet wide swath of land under and alongside the proposed powerline to maintain and access the infrastructure. Haden said this would be in addition to the 150-foot easement the utility already owns for an existing transmission line on his property.
“Most of the easement area will only have overhanging wires, and farmers can continue to use the land under the transmission lines,” Jennifer Spurlock, a real estate agent for Ameren, said in testimony submitted to the Missouri Public Service Commission.
“It is quite common for grazing and other livestock activities to co-exist around transmission line structures,” she said.
The proposal for the new powerline is under review by the Missouri Public Service Commission. Ameren expects state utility regulators to weigh in on the project by mid-May. If approved, the powerline could be in service by 2030.
