By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
Loud voices and everyone stepping up to the plate. Barton County Commissioner Donna Zimmerman credited residents in Barton, Pawnee, and Russell counties for speaking out against a proposed National Interest Electric Transmission Corridor (NIETC) that would have passed through all three counties. Last week, the U.S. Department of Energy announced it was no longer pursuing the proposed NIETC that affected Kansas. Commissioner Shawn Hutchinson said elected officials took action in a rare joint meeting in October, but the real difference was the public.
"What really pushed it over the edge was the citizens," he said. "So for the citizens of Barton, Pawnee, and Russell counties, I want to say thank you. I want to point out, when we all work together, this is the type of thing we can accomplish. Nothing is too big. Not even federal government regulations are too big when we all join together and row in the same direction. We can accomplish anything."
Originally proposed at five miles wide and 780 miles long, the Midwest-Plains NIETC prompted concern about eminent domain and landowner rights throughout the region. Last week's decision by the DOE to narrow the list of proposed NIETCs does not stop the Grain Belt Express, a separate project that has already been approved along a similar path.
"I believe we're in a much better spot now because the Grain Belt Express is Kansas," said Barton Commission Chair Barb Esfeld. "It's much smaller. It's something we feel like we can talk about and we know people we can actually have a conversation with. It was a big win for our counties."
State and federal legislators in states affected by the proposed NIETC call last week's decision a big win. Josh Hawley, a Republican senator from Missouri, recently criticized a $4.9 billion conditional commitment for a loan guarantee from the federal government for the Grain Belt Express, saying the funding should not be committed before various reviews have been completed and that the project will wreak havoc on landowners affected by the transmission line.