Invenergy Transmission is proposing to construct Grain Belt Express in two phases.

• Phase I extends from the line’s Kansas to Missouri interconnection points. Pending securing the required permits, Phase I construction is anticipated to begin as early as 2024.
• Phase II extends from Missouri to Indiana interconnection points. The schedule for Phase II has not been determined.

The Kansas Corporation Commission issued Grain Belt Express a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CCN) to operate as a transmission-only utility in 2019. An amendment filing to request to amend the CCN will be filed in early 2023.

Grain Belt Express received its certificate of convenience and necessity by the Missouri Public Service Commission (MPSC) in 2019.

As a public utility in Missouri, Grain Belt Express already has a long-term transmission service agreement with the Missouri Joint Municipal Electric Utility Commission (MJMEUC) that will provide clean energy and $12.8 million in annual energy savings for 39 municipal utilities across Missouri.

In July 2022, a series of project enhancements were announced for Grain Belt Express in response to the regional market demand and State leaders’ calls to deliver more power and energy savings to Missouri. To meet this power delivery demand requires relocating the line’s mid-point converter station from Ralls County to Monroe County, Missouri, as well as the addition of a new, approximately 40-mile transmission delivery line, known as the Grain Belt Express Tiger Connector. These changes are necessary to reach the existing McCredie substation, where Missouri’s power grid is robust enough to handle large injections of power to improve energy affordability and reliability as State leaders called for.

In August 2022, an amendment was filed for approval of these changes which will bring five times more energy to Missouri than originally approved in 2019. A decision on the amendment is anticipated in the first half of 2023.

In 2021, The Illinois General Assembly passed legislation authorizing the project’s application to the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC). In July 2022, Grain Belt Express submitted its filing for a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity with the ICC. A decision is anticipated in early 2023.

The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC) issued Grain Belt Express a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity in 2013.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has authorized Grain Belt Express to sell transmission capacity to potential customers of the project, including utilities and other load-serving entities or clean energy generators, and to negotiate agreements for 100% of the project’s capacity. Generator interconnection to Grain Belt Express will be subject to the requirements of the project’s FERC-approved open access transmission tariff.