First it was going from Kansas to Indiana... then it was only going from Kansas to Missouri... and now it's apparently back to the first plan.
In accordance with 2020 ILCS5/8-406, Invenergy Transmission LLC, an affiliate of Invenergy LLC, hereby provides notice to the Shelby County Clerk of the first of three phases (“Phase 1”) of public meetings for the Grain Belt Express project.
Remember, Invenergy re-wrote the Illinois public utility statute last year to benefit itself. It granted itself eminent domain authority for GBE. It required the ICC to find the project in the public interest without the taking of evidence. I guess the Illinois legislature is like a horse without a rider unless it has the guiding hand of a greedy utility corporation. Good thing Michael Polsky took the reins from ComEd to guide the vapid stable of legislators!
Of course, none of this is even remotely constitutional. Remember when Invenergy told the Missouri legislature that its proposed legislation was unconstitutional? Meanwhile, Invenergy was busy putting unconstitutional laws in place in Illinois. Invenergy wouldn't recognize the Constitution if it jumped up and bit them on the ankle. It's all about what gives Invenergy more power and profits, not what's constitutional.
So, after proposing to change its plan several years ago to only serve customers in Kansas and Missouri, Invenergy has suddenly developed a wish to extend its project over 200 miles of Illinois and sell power into PJM Interconnection, the grid serving the Mid-Atlantic and Ohio Valley. However, that's not a done deal. A different merchant transmission project that wants to connect to PJM is having issues and is being delayed for years. What makes Invenergy think that its project is so special that it will be welcomed? Chances are slim to none.
And speaking of a different project, Invenergy is a partner on a new transmission project recently approved in New York.
Of course, none of this is even remotely constitutional. Remember when Invenergy told the Missouri legislature that its proposed legislation was unconstitutional? Meanwhile, Invenergy was busy putting unconstitutional laws in place in Illinois. Invenergy wouldn't recognize the Constitution if it jumped up and bit them on the ankle. It's all about what gives Invenergy more power and profits, not what's constitutional.
So, after proposing to change its plan several years ago to only serve customers in Kansas and Missouri, Invenergy has suddenly developed a wish to extend its project over 200 miles of Illinois and sell power into PJM Interconnection, the grid serving the Mid-Atlantic and Ohio Valley. However, that's not a done deal. A different merchant transmission project that wants to connect to PJM is having issues and is being delayed for years. What makes Invenergy think that its project is so special that it will be welcomed? Chances are slim to none.
And speaking of a different project, Invenergy is a partner on a new transmission project recently approved in New York.
...a new 175-mile, underground transmission line, will enable the delivery of more than 7.5 million megawatt-hours of emissions-free energy into New York City every year.
What? Underground? If Invenergy can build a transmission line underground in New York, why can't it build a project underground in Kansas, Missouri, or Illinois? What's the benefit of undergrounding the project? It's so impacts on local landowners and communities are ameliorated. Why are the communities and landowners in New York afforded respect and deference that Invenergy refuses to offer in the Midwest? Invenergy has some serious questions to answer about its economic and environmental justice practices.
Where are the customers, Invenergy? A merchant transmission project cannot be financed and built without customers. Or was Invenergy waiting for more legislative changes at the federal level?
Our Big Government is just starting to plan how to administer the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
Where are the customers, Invenergy? A merchant transmission project cannot be financed and built without customers. Or was Invenergy waiting for more legislative changes at the federal level?
Our Big Government is just starting to plan how to administer the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
DOE is authorized to serve as an anchor customer on new and upgraded transmission lines in order to facilitate the private financing and construction of the line. Under this authority, DOE would buy up to 50 percent of planned capacity from the developer for a term of up to 40 years. A purchase of capacity will not be considered a “major federal action” that would trigger environmental review pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). DOE will then market the capacity it has purchased to recover the costs it has incurred once the project’s long-term financial viability is secured.
Well, isn't that convenient? A market-based merchant transmission project no longer needs a market of customers. Our Big Government will become an artificial "customer" and prop up these transmission roads to nowhere with our tax dollars. This is not market based.
TROUBLE AHEAD!
Can a government declare its actions aren't governed by NEPA? Seems more like an issue that a court would have to decide. Federal agencies cannot exempt themselves from federal law when it's convenient.
TROUBLE AHEAD!
Any "new" old plans for GBE are on the long, slow road to never happening. Certainly not at the point of condemning land, which GBE has recently filed to do in Missouri. Invenergy is going to condemn 50% or more of the property it needs to build a transmission line at some point in the future, maybe, if it can get approved and find customers? Why would Invenergy need to condemn land NOW for a project that cannot be built for years and years? Is it really about a transmission line? Or is it more about power and taking things from others just because you can?
TROUBLE AHEAD!
Grain Belt Express is just as hated as always, and just as far from success.
TROUBLE AHEAD!
Can a government declare its actions aren't governed by NEPA? Seems more like an issue that a court would have to decide. Federal agencies cannot exempt themselves from federal law when it's convenient.
TROUBLE AHEAD!
Any "new" old plans for GBE are on the long, slow road to never happening. Certainly not at the point of condemning land, which GBE has recently filed to do in Missouri. Invenergy is going to condemn 50% or more of the property it needs to build a transmission line at some point in the future, maybe, if it can get approved and find customers? Why would Invenergy need to condemn land NOW for a project that cannot be built for years and years? Is it really about a transmission line? Or is it more about power and taking things from others just because you can?
TROUBLE AHEAD!
Grain Belt Express is just as hated as always, and just as far from success.
RSS Feed