Local
Written by: Press Release Posted by David Elliott
Release date: 16.08.2024
Many Kansas residents have made it clear that their farms, businesses and homes are not for sale to the federal government.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has proposed a National Interest Electric Transmission Corridor (NIETC) running through much of Kansas, giving the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) more authority that could affect thousands of Kansas residents.
According to a press release from U.S. Senator Jerry Moran, this NIETC proposal was problematic from the start because the DOE proposal called for a comment period of only 45 days – far too short to fully consider the proposal and its impact on agriculture and private property in the proposed process. Landowners were given only a short window to voice their opinions. Senator Moran has spoken to Kansas residents who are concerned that the federal government could seize their land through expropriation, which would impact businesses and destroy farms that have existed for generations.
By designating land as part of a NIETC, FERC would have more authority over the placement of power transmission lines. The federal government has a responsibility to work in good faith with landowners and not steamroll our state regulators. But the Biden administration’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act allows FERC to issue permits for transmission lines in a corridor even if state regulators have rejected an application.
“Kansas landowners know these decisions should not be left to bureaucrats in Washington,” said Senator Moran. “When I return to Washington, DC, I will introduce legislation that will help protect the private property of Kansas residents from being seized by the federal government to build this transmission corridor.”
This bill will prohibit the use of federal funds to expropriate private property for use by the NIETC and will prohibit FERC from using its authority to overturn a state regulator’s denial of a power transmission project.
“We must ensure that federal taxpayers’ money is not used for expropriation and that decisions about the locations of power transmission lines remain in Kansas and not in Washington, DC,” said Senator Moran.
(Information courtesy of Senator Moran.)
