ENERGY: Grain Belt Express power line gets green light from Illinois Supreme Court

Developers are proposing the construction of a new 800-mile-long high-tension power line. Named the "Grain Belt Express", the proposed 4-gigawatt (4 GW) line would originate near Dodge City, Kansas, and would terminate in western Indiana. The purpose of this line would be to enable the transmission of electricity, including but not limited to electricity generated by wind farms in western Kansas, to customers east of the Mississippi River, including but not limited to data centers in Indiana. The Hoosier State has strongly pro-data center state tax laws; a law enacted in Indianapolis grants significant tax breaks, including sales tax breaks for periods of up to 50 years, for data centers that choose Indiana as their place of operations.

The proposed $11 billion power line would be built in a corridor, set to span Missouri and Illinois, using many existing pro-development laws and case laws, including the active use by the developers of eminent domain and land condemnation. Many Illinoisans, including those opposed to what they see as the over-use or misuse of eminent domain for a private "green power" project, have taken a variety of steps to try to discourage or prevent the construction of the Grain Belt Express line across south-central Illinois. Opponents have pointed out that many of the jobs that could be created or supported by the construction of this proposed high-tension power line would be located outside of Illinois. They also point to the lack of research into the health effects upon adjacent humans of a 4 GW direct current (DC) power corridor. Most or all of the high-tension lines that currently operate safely in Illinois carry power loads that are a tiny fraction of this gigawattage.

Based on the significant capital costs of the proposed new line (a reported $13.7 million per mile), and the unconventional ties between this capital and the use of government-permitted eminent domain, plaintiffs filed suit in Illinois against the proposed Grain Belt line. This case has gone to the Illinois Supreme Court, which last week ruled against the plaintiffs. This decision was a point in favor of the continued development of the controversial line.