The Grain Belt Express Wind Energy Superhighway Is Still Alive

The Grain Belt Express is a major 5-gigawatt, 700-mile high-voltage direct current transmission project designed to transport wind energy from Kansas to multiple Midwestern and Eastern states. Initially launched by Clean Line Energy in 2009, the project faced numerous regulatory hurdles, including rejections by the Missouri Public Service Commission in 2015 and 2016. After a Missouri Supreme Court ruling in 2018 allowed the project to proceed, Clean Line dropped it in 2019. Invenergy, a Chicago-based company, then acquired the project amid mixed regulatory support, with Missouri eventually approving it while Illinois rejected it. Despite opposition from state lawmakers and property owners, Invenergy secured nearly $4 billion from Blackstone Infrastructure Partners and municipal utilities to advance the project. In early 2024, the U.S. Department of Energy conditionally approved a $4.9 billion loan guarantee for Phase I of the Grain Belt Express, covering a 578-mile, 2.5-g