Work on an extensive transmission line project is inching closer to Allen County. The line’s route will traverse Coffey, Anderson, Allen, Bourbon, and Crawford counties in Kansas, and Barton and Jasper counties in Missouri.
In October 2021, NextEra Energy Transmission Southwest was awarded the construction of a new 94-mile, 345 kV transmission line from the Wolf Creek substation in Coffey County to the Blackberry substation in Jasper County, Missouri. The project is part of the 2019 Integrated Transmission Plan (ITP) to address the need for a more reliable and cost-effective grid.
Allen County will have about 25 miles of the project, the most of any county. About 220 property owners are affected, with approximately 58 of those being in Allen County.
The project aims to reduce congestion and provide market efficiences and benefits. This would include lower electricity costs for customers; job opportunities in the short and long-term; investment in the local economy during construction; enhanced reliability of the electric grid; and support to public health and safety through access to reliable electricity.
NEXTERA started clearing trees for the project in November 2023. Soon after, NextEra and county attorneys drafted a road agreement to address county road upgrades needed for the new transmission line.
Allen County Road and Bridge Director Jeremy Hopkins noted that his crews have been busy preparing for the transmission line to make its way through the county.
“We’ve had to do some upgrades to cross drains and make them bigger,” he said. Cross drains, he explained, are the drainage culverts that run underneath the roadway.
Hopkins noted there were six places in the county where these had to be enlarged so the roads could handle the weight of heavy equipment. One of these cross drains is located on Delaware Road, east of Elsmore.
“We also put down dust control for the residents on the routes where the line will be, as per the road agreement,” said Hopkins. In addition, county crews widened approximately 56 intersections to accommodate the project. “Anything that needed to be upgraded was paid for by NextEra,” he added. “None of that fell to the taxpayers or the county.”
CREWS working on the line are still north of Allen County. “They’ve been moving poles in, but they haven’t started here yet,” Hopkins said. He added that there currently has not been a date set for work to begin in Allen County.
NextEra anticipates that the line will be in service by early 2025 and they expect to still have a presence in the area doing cleanup following project completion. Project director Nick Fuhr told county commissioners in October 2023 that NextEra will do a post-construction inventory to assess what damages occurred during the project.
“What we claim is ours, we’ll repair,” he said at the time. “Our goal is to leave the roads better than we found them. We want to be good neighbors because we’ll be in this community for a long time.”
The project is designed to have a 150-foot-wide easement with above-ground transmission line structures around 110 feet tall. Monopole structures will primarily be used to minimize tree clearing and agricultural impacts.
As part of the project, NextEra secured options for easements from landowners whose land will be crossed by the transmission line. The developer was given the status of a public utility in 2022, meaning that landowners could be compelled to allow the project under eminent domain.
NextEra has promised to work with landowners on an ongoing basis throughout the construction, clean-up phase of the project, and beyond. Notice is provided to landowners prior to accessing the right-of-way to perform any scheduled maintenance.
