Transmission line developer seeks customers among wind-farm operatorsNov 19 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Dan Voorhis The Wichita EagleGrain Belt Express Clean Line, the Houston company seeking to build an electric transmission line from western Kansas to Indiana, has issued a Request For Information, seeking to gauge interest in the project from western Kansas wind-farm developers. The initial response from developers is due Dec. 2. Construction of the line is scheduled to begin in 2016, with completion expected by 2018. The Grain Belt Express Clean Line is planned as a 750-mile, overhead, direct-current transmission line that will deliver up to 3,500 megawatts from a station near Dodge City to utilities and customers in Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and states farther east. The $2 billion cost will be borne by private investors. The Kansas Corporation Commission this month granted a siting permit to Grain Belt Express to build the 370-mile Kansas portion of the line. Last week, the company filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for the authority to negotiate rates with customers. "We hope the results from the RFI will provide valuable information about generators' need for the Grain Belt Express Clean Line's transmission capacity and the phenomenal wind resources in western Kansas," Michael Skelly, president of Clean Line Energy, said in a statement. http://www.energycentral.com/functional/news/news_detail.cfm?did=30691065& |