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Farmer who supports Grain Belt Express testifies

CORRECTION: Most farmers testified in favor of the Grain Belt Express bill in a Missouri Senate hearing this week that would remove its power of eminent domain but there was one who shared her opposition to the bill. Dawn Engles and her husband farm in Randolph County in north Missouri and says the project is needed for its tax benefits to poor rural counties.

“We’ve supported this project since its inception because of our strong belief in clean and affordable energy.”

Engles said everyone at the hearing knew that the Public Service Commission unanimously approved the wind energy project as a public utility that was necessary and there’s recent proof of why it’s needed.

“We got that in spades (this) past winter with the severe cold spell when our electric grid was in danger to the point that we had to invoke rolling blackouts.”

Testimony from Nicole Luckey, vice president of regulatory affairs with Grain Belt owner Invenergy said if the project had been in place then its transmission capabilities would have “saved Texas.”