Energy. I’m not talking about your morning coffee or my occasional caffeinated drink. I’m talking about the electricity each of us needs to power our homes, run our farms and businesses, and care for our families. Electricity powers agriculture and every sector of the American economy, and its importance cannot be overstated.
But here’s the deal. Affordable, reliable power as we know it is in jeopardy as the Biden administration continues to implement its far-reaching climate agenda. Recently, the Department of Energy (DOE) proposed ten National Interest Electric Transmission Corridors (NIETCs) to modernize the nation’s power grids. NietCs are designated geographic routes intended for additional electrical transmission expansion. If this proposal moves forward, it will allow the federal government to expedite permitting for mega-transmission projects, replacing state regulators and giving more power to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in Washington, DC. It also opens the door to federal funding.
The NietC list includes Invenergy’s Grain Belt Express (GBE). For years, we have shared the Missouri Farm Bureau’s (MOFB) efforts to protect landowner rights against this private, for-profit high-voltage transmission line that will carry power from wind farms in Kansas to the Indiana border. Despite MOFB’s objections and the threat posed to private landowners, GBE received the stamp of approval from the Public Service Commission of Missouri, allowing this project to proceed.
Now the DOE has proposed making the GBE transmission line the “Midwest-Plains” UITC. This designation would increase the footprint of the transmission corridor across Missouri by eight miles in width. Other NietCs have a designated footprint of up to 100 miles (160 kilometers) wide.
The NietC proposal is part of a larger plan by the Biden administration to fundamentally change energy generation and transmission as we know it. Rapidly taking reliable energy sources, such as coal-fired power generation and natural gas, offline through heavy-handed environmental regulations and replacing these sources with intermittent wind and solar power destabilizes the electric grid – hence the need for more mega-transmission lines.
Federal incentives passed by Congress in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act make it financially lucrative for companies, whether investment firms or investor-owned utilities, to jump on the green energy bandwagon. Their interest in solar and wind energy is sky high because that’s where the money is, leading to some of our country’s most fertile agricultural lands being taken out of production for decades to accommodate this expansion of green energy. Designating huge tracts of agricultural land as NietCs will undoubtedly lead to more solar farms and lines to be connected to the new mega transmission lines.
Farm Bureau has always supported an “all of the above” approach to energy production, including renewables. Let’s be realistic, though. Our reliable base energy sources such as coal, natural gas and nuclear energy can be turned on or off as needed. Wind and solar energy remain at the mercy of Mother Nature. Together, these sources have provided affordable, reliable electricity – and now that is at risk.
Let me be clear. The Biden administration is rushing to implement the Green New Deal, and our private property rights are standing in the way. We call on DOE to hold hearings on the proposed NietC corridors across the country so that the agency can hear directly from affected landowners.
Our nation’s energy security is at risk, as are our private property rights. Join us in opposing this massive land grab and failed energy policy. You can take action and send a response to DOE by June 24 through the MOFB Action Center (mofb.org/action-center). Together, we can prevent Missouri from becoming the transmission highway for the Biden administration’s green energy dreams.
Garrett Hawkins is an Appleton City farmer and is president of the Missouri Farm Bureau.
This article originally appeared on Springfield News Leader: MO Farm Bureau: President Biden ‘greenlights’ new land grab
