Hearings Scheduled on Grain Belt Express Project

The Illinois Commerce Commission will hold three public forums on Clean Line Energy's proposed Grain Belt Express transmission line July 28-29 in areas where residents would be directly affected by the proposed project.

Dates, times and locations include:

July 28 at 5pm--Pike County Farm Bureau office, 1301 E. Washington, Pittsfield

July 29 at 9:30am--Pana Junior High Auditorium, 203 W. 8th St., Pana

July 29 at 4pm--in the Gerald R. Forsythe Performing Arts Center, Marshall Junior High School, 806 N. 6th St., Marshall

As proposed, the line would cover a 206-mile route through Pike, Scott, Greene, Macoupin, Montgomery, Christian, Shelby, Cumberland and Clark counties.

Clean Line Energy is asking the ICC for a "certificate of public convenience and necessity" for a 780-mile long overhead line from western Kansas that would tap into a power grid in Indiana. The company plans to start construction in 2017 and finish and transmit electricity in 2019.

ICC Administrative Law Judge Janis VonQualen will preside, and ICC Chairman Brien Sheahan and Commissioner John Rosales will attend.

During the first 90 minutes, the public may provide oral and/or written comments. Each speaker will be limited to three minutes. After the public comment portion, ICC staff will conduct an informal question-and-answer session.

The Grain Belt Express application is docket #15-0277 and may be viewed by visiting www.icc.illinois.gov and pasting the docket number into the e-docket search.