Setbacks Continue For Proposed Wind Power Line

Springfield Illinois — The setbacks continue for the proposed Rock Island Clean Line project.

The aim of the project is to build a 500-mile-long electric transmission line through Iowa — starting in O’Brien County — to ship wind power generated in Iowa to Illinois. Iowa State University Economist David Swenson said in 2014 that the $2 billion line would also pave the way for a developing wind energy industry in South Dakota to flourish, where land is less expensive and more available — but he said the infrastructure is not there to move the energy where it is needed — in metro areas.

The most recent setback is a ruling by the Illinois Supreme Court that said that the Illinois Commerce Commission erred when it granted Clean Line “Public Utility Status.” In 2012, Clean Line applied to the Illinois Commerce Commission for a certificate of public convenience and necessity. The public utility status would have allowed Clean Line the right of eminent domain.

Clean Line had filed for transmission lines in the sixteen Iowa counties that the line was proposed to cross in 2014, but withdrew the applications two years later, waiting to see how it went in Illinois before deciding whether to refile in Iowa.

Vice president of Clean Line Energy Partners Hans Detweiler says that the decision did not impact the authority of the ICC, and, “The court made it clear we have an opportunity to refile with the commission at a later date.”

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