Missouri's Republican-led state House has voted against the use of eminent domain for a large wind-energy power line.
Lawmakers voted 118-42 Monday to prevent using eminent domain to acquire easement rights for the Grain Belt Express power line. The high-voltage power line is to carry wind energy from Kansas across Missouri and Illinois before hooking into a power grid in Indiana that serves eastern states.
Missouri utility regulators granted approval for the project, which could let developers pursue condemnation if landowners won't sell easements. The bill to ban eminent domain now heads to the Senate, where it died last year.
