JEFFERSON CITY---Grain Belt Express LLC (Grain Belt) has filed an application with the Missouri Public Service Commission seeking a Commission order amending its certificate of convenience and necessity (CCN) granted in File No. EA-2016-0358 as described in its application and supporting testimony; and approving certain modifications to the conditions on Grain Belt’s CCN granted in File No. EA-2016-0358. In its application, Grain Belt states that for the high voltage direct current (HVDC) portion of the line, no material changes to the route, right-of-way, or facility design are anticipated as a result of the requested amendments. Grain Belt also filed a motion requesting a waiver of the requirement to give 60-days’ notice before filing its application with the Commission.
Grain Belt states in its application that the material changes to the engineering or project design from the granted CCN are as follows: 1) Relocating the Missouri converter station from Ralls County to Monroe County and increasing the capacity of the Missouri converter station from 500 MW to 2,500 MW; 2) Relocating the alternating current (AC) connector line from Ralls County to Monroe, Audrain and Callaway Counties (The AC tie line, known as the “Tiger Connector,” will be approximately 40 miles, traversing south from the converter station in Monroe County, through Audrain County, and terminating in Callaway County at the existing McCredie Substation); and 3) Constructing the project in two phases.
Grain Belt has also requested modification of certain conditions that accompanied the grant of the original CCN in File No. EA-2016-0358. Those changes are: 1) Modification of the financing conditions to allow for phasing in the project as set out in the direct testimony of Kevin Chandler filed with the application; 2) Modification of the “easement expiration” condition to bring the condition in line with new Section 523.025, RSMo, which allows for seven years to obtain financial commitments necessary to construct the project, rather than the five years as ordered by the Commission in File No. EA-2016-0358; and 3) Modification of the Missouri Landowner Protocols to permit a landowner compensation specific package for the Tiger Connector landowners.
Applications to intervene and participate in this case must be filed no later than September 30, 2022, with the Secretary of the Missouri Public Service Commission, P.O. Box 360, Jefferson City, Missouri 65102, or by using the Commission’s Electronic Filing and Information System (EFIS) at www.psc.mo.gov. Individual citizens wishing to comment should contact either the Office of the Public Counsel (Governor Office Building, 200 Madison Street, Suite 650, P.O. Box 2230, Jefferson City, Missouri 65102-2230, telephone (866) 922-2959, e-mail opcservice@opc.mo.gov) or the Public Service Commission Staff (P.O. Box 360, Jefferson City, Missouri 65102, telephone 1-800-392-4211, e-mail pscinfo@psc.mo.gov). The Office of the Public Counsel is a separate state agency that represents the general public in matters before the Commission.
On March 20, 2019, the Commission, in File No. EA-2016-0358, approved a request filed by Grain Belt which sought a CCN to construct, own, operate, control, manage and maintain a high voltage, direct current transmission line and associated facilities within eight Missouri counties.
-30-
Missouri Public Service Commission