The Illinois Farm Bureau, represented by Charles Y. Davis, prevailed in Illinois’ 5th District Appellate Court in Concerned Citizens and Property Owners, et al. v. Illinois Commerce Commission et al., Case No. 5-15-0551 (March 13, 2018), related to the roughly $2B electric transmission project proposed by Grain Belt Express Clean Line, LLC. This decision comes on the heels of the Illinois Supreme Court’s unanimous decision issued in Illinois Landowners Alliance, NFP, et al. v. Illinois Commerce Commission et al., 2017 IL 121302 (September 21, 2017), which involved the Illinois Farm Bureau’s litigation against the electric transmission project of sister company, Rock Island Clean Line, LLC. Through its publication FarmWeekNow.com, the Illinois Farm Bureau reported:
Appellate Court reverses approval of Grain Belt Express Project
March 14, 2018
http://farmweeknow.com/story-appellate-court-reverses-approval-grain-belt-express-project-0-173094
Siding with Illinois Farm Bureau and several landowner groups, Illinois’ 5th District Appellate Court has reversed the Illinois Commerce Commission’s (ICC) approval of Grain Belt Express (GBX) Clean Line’s transmission line.
In a 13-page order, the court ruled the ICC lacked authority to grant a nonpublic utility company a certificate of public convenience and necessity under the expedited review process of the Illinois Public Utilities Act. The court also ruled Grain Belt Express Clean Line doesn’t meet the definition of a public utility.
“Without finding that GBX was a public utility, we hold that the commission was without authority to grant GBX a certificate of public convenience and necessity,” according to the order written by Justice John B. Barberis Jr.
IFB President Richard Guebert Jr. applauded the news.
“This is a great day for property rights and land owners,” Guebert said. “IFB spent a great deal of time working on this issue. I’m very pleased with the 5th District Appellate Court decision.”
In 2015, the ICC approved GBX’s application to construct, operate and maintain a 600 kV, 4,000 MW capacity, high-voltage electric transmission line.
According to GBX’s business plan, the proposed 780-mile-long overhead line would have delivered wind energy from western Kansas across Missouri and Illinois to Indiana. The line was planned to run across the Mississippi River just south of Quincy from Palmyra, Mo., to the Illinois/Indiana line and across the Wabash River to Sullivan, Ind. The line would have traversed Illinois through Pike, Scott, Greene, Macoupin, Montgomery, Christian, Shelby, Cumberland and Clark counties.
Several county Farm Bureau boards along the proposed route opposed the project and requested IFB intervene in the case. Along with IFB, Concerned Citizens and Property Owners, Landowners Alliance of Central Illinois and Mary Ellen Zotos intervened and opposed the project.
Although the ICC rejected IFB’s argument that GBX wasn’t entitled to use the expedited review process that’s only available to public utilities, the appellate court disagreed.
“We cannot reason that the legislature intended to give unlimited discretion through an expedited review process to nonpublic utilities, which would ultimately provide the commission with no jurisdiction to enforce their projects,” according to the order.
GBX can request a rehearing from the Appellate Court or ask the Illinois Supreme Court to take the case. The Illinois Supreme Court has discretion on whether it will take an appeal.
