Missouri Regulators Approve Grain Belt Express’s Tiger Connector

Missouri Public Service Commission gave approval to one of the nation’s largest renewable energy projects, a high-voltage power line delivering wind energy from the Midwest To a power grid for eastern states.

The Commission approved Grain Belt Express’s Tiger Connector amendment on Wednesday.

The amendment allows Grain Belt to relocate the Missouri converter station to Monroe County from Ralls County, increasing the capacity of the converter station from 500 megawatts to 2,500 megawatts, and relocate the Tiger Connector AC connecting line from Ralls County to Monroe, Audrain and Callaway Counties.

The Tiger Connector will extend roughly 40 miles from the converter station in Monroe County south through Audrain and end at the McCredie Substation in Callaway County.

Missouri Farm Bureau President Garret Hawkins issue a statement saying “We’re once again disappointed in the PSC’s decision to dismiss the rights of Missouri landowners and rural residents in favor of Invenergy’s Grain Belt Express (GBE) project.

In approving GBE’s “Tiger Connector” amendment, the commission is putting a lot of faith in the company to do the right thing, when they have a track record of failing to do so time and time again. This ruling, once again, underscores the need for PSC modernization and stronger landowner protections.

It is simply wrong that landowners along Invenergy’s proposed route are forced to sell their land at a time – and to a buyer – not of their choosing, to forever host a line they do not want.”