JASPER COUNTY, Mo. — A two state, seven county construction project is in the works for southeast Kansas and southwest Missouri.
And in theory, it should lead to more generating capacity and lower electric bills for people living in its path.
Plans are in the works to build a 345-kilovolt transmission line starting near the Wolf Creek Nuclear Power plant in Burlington, Kansas to the Blackberry Substation in the northwest corner of Jasper County Missouri.
“Building this particular project reduce congestion on the grid and therefore reduce the cost of electricity for the region,” said Andrew Schulte, Spokesperson, Nextera Energy.
Schulte says the exact path of the 94 mile power line still needs the approval of both the Kansas Corporation Commission and the Missouri Public Service Commission since the line starts in one state and ends in another. It will traverse Coffey, Anderson, Allen, Bourbon and Crawford counties in Kansas and Barton and Jasper in Missouri, that’s why he addressed the Commission in Carthage.
“The company is hosting open houses, some virtual open houses for landowners to attend next week, in advance of that to touch base with Commissioners and let them know about the project,” added Schulte.
“We have no planning and zoning in Jasper County so we as Commissioners don’t have much of a say. We do have say about the roads, which roads they take and stuff, that will be important for us to make sure they don’t get on some place that can’t hold the equipment,” said John Bartosh, Jasper County Presiding Commissioner.
Schulte says Nextera Energy is currently in the process of purchasing easements from land owners. He says construction is expected to start in mid 2023 with a completion date by January of 2025.
