We understand the need for power lines to Missouri. We want Kansas farmland preserved, though.

The Editorial Advisory Board
·2 min read
10
Kansas regulators gave final approval on a controversial transmission line that would span five counties, despite concerns from landowners.

The builders of a proposed electric line taking nuclear energy from Kansas to Missouri now have eminent domain power. The Topeka Capital-Journal’s Jason Tidd reports they can’t use it until a final route has been approved.

Tidd reports the Kansas Corporation Commission granted public utility status to NextEra Energy Transmission Southwest, which plans to build a 94-mile, 345-kilovolt transmission line from the Wolf Creek nuclear power plant near Burlington to the Blackberry Substation in Missouri.

This planned route would run through Coffey, Anderson, Allen, Bourbon and Crawford counties, crossing large swaths of farmland rather than following highways.

It’s not without objections. Kansas farmers who will be impacted have made their opinions known. One even claimed NextEra has trespassed and damaged his property.

The KCC told farmers to take their concerns to the Kansas Legislature.

We don’t love eminent domain. But we understand why it exists.

We also see there is potential for energy cost savings for Kansans. Kansas will only pay for 16.5% of the estimated $85 million project. The rest of the project's funding, Tidd reports, will come from the Southwest Power Pool, which covers Kansas and other 16 states in the region, to provide reliable supplies of power, adequate transmission infrastructure and competitive wholesale prices.

The KCC estimates this line will pass savings on to consumers, but the Kansas Industrial Consumers Group challenged the estimates.

All of this needs to be explored. Further, we’d like to see an option that follows the highway paths rather than carving through farmland.

Would this action have an added cost to the project? Most likely, but we feel the benefits might be in the best interest of Kansans.

We feel we need to look after our farmers, their land and their rights. Also we’d like to keep the beauty of our farmland and prairies intact if at all possible. Kansas is a beautiful place, and we need to be good stewards of its land.

NextEra is a Florida-based company. They won’t have the same connection to the land we do.

To do so, we need to learn a bit more. The KCC has the power to follow through on this and need to ensure it happens.

The KCC has already required NextEra to evaluate the feasibility of a double circuit line with an existing 25-mile, 161-kilovolt Evergy transmission line that would require less easement and reduce structure costs.

We’ll be watching to see what happens next.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas farmland should be preserved when Wolf Creek power lines built