Iowa Utilities Board denies Clean Line's THIRD attempt to inconvenience landowners...

Yesterday, the Iowa Utilities Board denied Clean Line Energy's THIRD attempt to bend state law to make it more convenient and less expensive for them, and more inconvenient for landowners who are fighting the "Rock Island Clean Line" project. Here is the story:

 Associated Press

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- The Iowa Utilities Board has dealt another setback to a proposed $2 billion transmission line to ship Iowa wind energy to customers in Illinois.

The board on Monday rejected the third request by Clean Line Energy Partners to split the case into two separate hearings. The board stood by its plan to decide whether to approve the line and whether to grant the use of eminent domain in one hearing.

The company has said that approach means it has to invest "tens of millions of dollars" acquiring land while running the risk that regulators could reject the line as not in the public interest. Groups representing union workers and wind energy supporters backed its request.

But the board says splitting the case would be inconvenient for landowners fighting the project.

 The IUB decision has several highlights, and can be viewed in its entirety here.

Administrative efficiency and landowner convenience:

Please keep in mind: If the Department of Energy chooses to partner with Clean Line Energy in their pursuit of the "Plains and Eastern" project by granting them Section 1222 authority, landowners in Arkansas and Oklahoma would have NO hearing or opportunity to contest the case.