Senator Marshall Delivers Win for Kansas Landowners, Halts Controversial Transmission Line Project

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, M.D. is proud to announce the removal of the Midwest Plains proposed transmission line from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Interest Electric Transmission Corridor (NIETC) project. After months of relentless advocacy, including numerous roundtables and meetings with every county that would have been impacted, Senator Marshall took Kansan’s feedback and amplified their concerns directly to the DOE. Senator Marshall’s persistence has successfully stopped this flawed proposal in its tracks. 

“Kansans living in the path of this proposed transmission line corridor spoke loud and clear: they do not want the federal government dictating what happens in their backyard,” Senator Marshall said. “Kansans should always determine what is built in Kansas, not federal bureaucrats. This proposal represented a dangerous overreach of federal authority, turning our backyards into pathways for delivering energy to the coastal elites. As soon as we heard of this project, we immediately went to the DOE and fought back. We are glad to report that we won this battle, and Kansan’s voices were heard at the highest levels. ” 

On Monday, the U.S. Department of Energy announced it had narrowed the number of proposed transmission line corridors from 10 to three. As part of that process, the Midwest-Plains Corridor, which would have started in southwest Kansas and ended in Illinois, was removed from the list of corridors. The removal of the corridor was a direct result of the Senator’s work and outreach by Kansans to the Department of Energy.

Background:

• Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Energy announced the proposed Midwest Plains Transmission Line Corridor, which would have impacted 14 different counties in Kansas. 
• Senator Marshall immediately pushed back to the proposal and encouraged Kansans to send their thoughts and concerns to the Department of Energy
• In September, Senator Marshall helped introduce legislation to protect Kansans’ property rights from federal overreach.
• Senator Marshall and staff attended listening sessions and public meetings in every county impacted by the NIETC proposal. 
• In August, Senator Marshall held a briefing with county commissioners from North-Central Kansas to discuss his efforts to stop the proposed corridor
• In 2021, Senator Marshall offered an amendment that would have removed federal backstop authority from the NIETC proposal. That amendment failed in committee. 
• In June, Senator Marshall announced that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) would adjust its electricity transmission costs to reduce the financial burden on Kansas ratepayers